Kansas high court strikes down school funding law, threatens shutdown

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the state's funding system for public education is unconstitutional and said it must be replaced by June 30 if schools are to remain open.

The court found in an 80-page ruling that the system approved by lawmakers in the Republican-controlled state legislature last year was inequitable, saying it had come up $54 million short in funding for schools in poor districts.

The court upheld a challenge by four school districts to the so-called block grant system, which replaced per-pupil funding, finding that system does not comply with the Kansas constitution.

Lacking a constitutional school finance system, schools in Kansas will not be able to operate after June 30, the court stated.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kansas-education-idUSKCN0VK290

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World | Thu Feb 11, 2016 2:20pm EST
KANSAS CITY, KAN. | BY KEVIN MURPHY

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. the only silver lining?

Kansas kids will no longer be taught that the earth is flat, that the universe was made by some invisible sky creature 6,000 solar orbits ago, that abstinence works, and that gay marriage violates god's sense of right and wrong.

[Hoppy]

9. WRONG ! IT IS KANSAS ! The troof about the urf being flat and other stuf you made fun of will still

be taught. The difference is there will me more money for better visuals from the Noah's Ark foundation in Tennessee.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

13. Would I insult you if I said, " I love ya?"

[Hoppy]

14. Nah, insult away.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Just another failed Lab

(Political)Experiment by the Heritage think tank funded by the Koch Brothers.

[SheilaT]

3. We moved to Kansas in 1990,

and at the time their public schools were for the most part excellent. It's been sad watching the slow deterioration, the long chipping away at funding, the fundamentalist nonsense that has crept in.

So glad I don't have children in school there any more.

[hibbing]

4. Nebraska is next

With our idiot inherited money gazillionaire governor.

Peace

[turbinetree]

5. Lets not forget that basically all 27 republican controlled Legislatures......................

that are doing this in there states

AMAZING----------------

And they keep harping that this country needs to have the best education in the world------------------well twits, for starters try funding them





Honk-------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

It is about getting a Progressive President, U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, and State and Local Legislatures


Democracy begins with you----------------- tag your it

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. I've lost track. By what name does he do damage to NE?

[rurallib]

7. pete ricketts of the ameritrade ricketts

and the chicago cubs ricketts

pardon me for breaking in, but I am so thankful republican disease has only slightly affected iowa so far. But we hold one house of thed legislature by one vote. were it not for that we would surely be sailing down the Heritage Highway to oblivion.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. But of course.

No wonder I block that bloke from my mind. Their Cubs gamesmanshit occasionally pisses off the locals something fierce. Night games, demands to close off a four square block RESIDENTIAL AREA on all game days and nights (virtually stranding the local residents). I did say RESIDENTIAL AREA, did I not? DENSELY POPULATED, too. And parking on non game days is nearly impossible. When you have a game, and the front yards of homes are used as urinals, especially by St. Louis fans, it becomes a true pain.

The whole Cricketts' family are rather scary. They went big for Gov. Rauner, our domestic tea party Walker wannabe.

[greymattermom]

10. Brownback thinks businesses will come to Kansas

if taxes are low enough. He forgets that these people need good schools for their kids, and there are very few private schools in Kansas.
No company will want to move there if the schools are failing.

[happyslug]

11. Here is the actual opinion:

http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/opinions/SupCt/2016/20160211/113267.pdf

In short, if by the close of fiscal year 2016, ending June 30, the State is unable to satisfactorily demonstrate to this court that the legislature has complied with the will of the people as expressed in Article 6 of their constitution through additional remedial legislation or otherwise, then a lifting of the stay of today's mandate will mean no constitutionally valid school finance system exists through which funds for fiscal year 2017 can lawfully be raised, distributed, or spent

I should point one there was ONE DISSENT. The Dissent disliked the delay till June 30, 2016, he wanted it done NOW:

If a reasonable person could agree with the trial court's exercise of discretion, "it matters not a whit whether an appellate jurist might have made a different decision." State v. Moyer, 302 Kan. 892, 903, 360 P.3d 384 (2015). In that vein, the majority should not substitute its own preferred remedy for that ordered by the panel. In short, I would affirm the panel's rulings on the equity portion of this lawsuit, with such supplementation as may be necessary for fiscal years 2016 and 2017

Mention is made of "Gannon I" the 2014 ruling in this case, here is that case:

http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/Opinions/SupCt/2014/20140307/109335.pdf

[world wide wally]

12. Another Republican achievement in progress