A rally outside the Statehouse in support of education, social service funding. (Photo by Stephen Koranda)Education funding has taken center stage on the first day of the 2013 Kansas legislative session. Lawmakers returned to Topeka just days after a district court ruled that the state needs to increase school funding. Advocates for education joined a rally at the Statehouse and praised the ruling. Karen Godfrey is president of the Kansas National Education Association. She hopes the ruling will send a message to state lawmakers.
The new speaker of the Kansas House is Ray Merrick, a Republican from Stilwell. He says the ruling would amount to a tax increase on Kansans. Merrick says lawmakers need to take more than just funding into account.
The state of Kansas will appeal the district court's ruling, but a decision by the Kansas Supreme Court is not likely to be issued before the end of the 2013 legislative session.