Topeka ? A House Republican leader outlined a proposal Thursday to allow the state’s 303 school districts to tap more than $432 million in reserve accounts.

Assistant Majority Leader John Ballou said the districts have ample resources in their reserve accounts to get through difficult budget years. He added there was little question that the state had adequately funded public education.

“However, we may have tied the hands of school districts by stipulating where and when they can spend the money we give them,” said Ballou, R-Gardner.

Ballou said statistics from the state Department of Education showed that increases in education spending have met or exceeded the Consumer Price Index when considering state, local and federal sources of funds.

His proposal would allow districts to move money out of restricted reserves and into general funds to pay for salaries, utilities and other education services.

About $237 million of the reserves is currently in capital outlay funds generated through local property taxes.

Ballou said he expected the bill to be introduced in the coming days in the House Appropriations Committee.

Ballou said he would not expect all the reserves to be spent in one year, but that the balances more than cover the $91 million reduction in state aid proposed by Gov. Bill Graves in the state budget he submitted for the upcoming fiscal year.

Kansas spends more than $2.3 billion on public education, or $3,870 per pupil. The Senate has approved a bill that would increase that amount by $20 per pupil, or about $12 million.