Topeka ? Democrat Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday she would not cut spending for higher education if elected governor. Her opponent, Republican Tim Shallenburger, wouldn’t make that pledge.

The two candidates spoke separately Wednesday with the Kansas Board of Regents, which oversees the higher-education system.

“I don’t think there’s any opportunity for Kansas to have a true economic recovery without investing in education,” Sebelius said, adding that her commitment extended to public schools.

Later, Shallenburger said: “I know we have funding problems in this state, and if you want someone who’s just going to promise everything to everybody, there’s another candidate you spoke to earlier that might do that.”

While saying spending for higher education shouldn’t be cut, Sebelius didn’t provide details about where the money would come from to sustain support in the face of declining state revenues.

Shallenburger said K-12 education should take priority over higher education.

“I think on a scale of what the state the general taxpayers of the state of Kansas are obligated to do, I think we need to make sure suitable education is available for every public-education student in the state of Kansas,” he said. “I think we need to make sure higher education is affordable and available, but I don’t think we have a constitutional requirement to say that every child that wants to go to college has a right to do so.”

Faculty raises

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Asked later Wednesday whether he had taken cuts to higher education off the table, Shallenburger repeated his stance.

“No, we have not,” he said at a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce event. “I would hope that what they get based on the amount of revenue they have is sufficient. I would hope that they would be happy, not elated, but happy that they were treated fairly.”

Shallenburger said decreasing local mill levies for cities with community colleges also would be a priority of his administration.

Both candidates said the Legislature should follow through on promises made in 1999 to increase faculty salaries.

Senate Bill 345 promised increased salaries for four years. The increases translated into average 3 percent raises for Kansas University faculty for two years, but the Legislature didn’t include money in this year’s budget to continue the raises.

“I do believe it should be funded,” Shallenburger said. “I don’t think the commitments were that expensive that we can’t do that.”

Sebelius said: “I feel it’s critical to fund the promises that were made.”

Shifting focus

Some higher-education officials have complained that much of the focus of the gubernatorial campaign has been on K-12 education. Regents Chairman Jack Wempe said Wednesday’s presentations were designed to provide more information on the topic.

Education officials have been concerned the faculty salary increases would follow the lead of Margin of Excellence, a 1980s program to increase funding to universities that was never completed, he said.

“We’re a little concerned that history may be repeating itself in Senate Bill 345,” Wempe said. “We’re interested to see how the candidates view what we do.”

Both candidates said they favored a comprehensive review of the state’s tax system to determine whether it was fair.

Shallenburger was more specific, saying he would examine exemptions to the state’s retail sales tax. He has pledged not to increase taxes.

Sebelius has stopped short of making a pledge, but she has said the state needs to do more with less money and that she would do a top-to-bottom review of state government to find inefficiencies.

Both have said they wouldn’t cut aid to public schools, which represents 52 percent of the $4.4 billion state budget.

Higher-education spending, $700 million, represents 16 percent of the budget. Together it and aid to public schools consume more than two-thirds of the budget.