(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Aug. 22, 2016)
While we’re all waiting for that 9 a.m. Sept. 21 hearing before the Kansas Supreme Court on the K-12 school finance lawsuit—and the likely post-general election decision—there are some interesting issues floating around the Statehouse on the Gannon vs. Kansas case.
This portion of the near-eternal battle between Kansas school districts and the state is over just how much money the state needs to spend on K-12 education. The test? It’s the constitutional requirement that “the Legislature shall make suitable provision for finance of the educational interests of the state.” That means making sure that all school districts have enough money to meet the educational standard set by the Legislature, and that the Legislature appropriates enough money to make sure they can.
That standard is the one Kansas lawmakers recently bought into when they adopted the so-called “Rose Standards” for accomplishment. Those standards? They mirror closely those adopted by Kentucky in 1989 after a school finance lawsuit. Yes, that sounds a little old, 1989, but they sound pretty good.