TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate Ways and Means Committee's chairman says he hopes a school funding bill will clear the Legislature by the end of next week. Republican Senator Ty Masterson, of Andover, said Wednesday that lawmakers need to respond quickly to a Kansas Supreme Court decision last month. The court said the state was shorting poor school districts on their state aid. The justices ordered a fix by June 30 and threatened to keep schools closed unless lawmakers meet the deadline. Masterson drafted a plan to redistribute $39 million among school districts for the 2016-17 school year to help poorer districts. His committee had a hearing on it Wednesday. House Speaker Ray Merrick was wary of moving as quickly as Masterson hopes and said the work needs to be done correctly.
The AP is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, as a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members, it can maintain its single-minded focus on newsgathering and its commitment to the highest standards of objective, accurate journalism.