With the general election less than a week away, few state representatives are bad-mouthing public schools.

That’s to be expected.

But at a League of Women Voters-sponsored forum Wednesday at Lawrence High School, Rep. Ralph Tanner, R-Baldwin, warned that in the months ahead, most Kansas are going to be disappointed in elected officials.

Schools, he predicted, are not going to fare well in the upcoming legislative session because “about 50” House members  all of them well aware of their school districts’ struggle to keep their budget in the black  have vowed not to raise taxes.

“There is a great deal of mistrust in the Legislature, especially in the House,” Tanner said, referring to recent efforts to increase state spending on schools.

And while many candidates are quick to cite a recent study to determine the true costs of providing a “suitable” education for all Kansas children recommended spending an additional $390 million in the next three years, Tanner said a comparable number of legislators considered it moribund.

“That’s means it’s still breathing, but there’s not much life left in it,” he said.

Tanner, chairman of the House Education Committee for the past four years, said he was worried that because most Lawrence-area legislators were considered pro-education, most of the area’s voters assumed there would be more money for schools next year. Schools, he said, would be lucky to break even.

Tom Holland, who is running against Tanner in the 10th District, did not dispute Tanner’s analysis. Instead, Holland argued that it underscored the need to elect representatives who would be proactive rather than combative.

Holland, a software consultant, chided this year’s Legislature for passing a budget that “collapsed as soon as they left town” at the close of a 106-day session, the longest in state history.

“Regardless of who gets elected,” Holland said, “taxes will be raised, and services are going to be cut.

Holland said he pitied Lawrence School Supt. Randy Weseman because next year’s budget “is going to be a mess.”

Earlier, Weseman had explained how this year’s funding package had forced the school district to carve $4 million from its budget.

To get through next year, Weseman said, “we’re going need to some help.”

Candidates attending the forum were state Reps. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, and Troy Findley, D-Lawrence, who face no opposition; State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, and Charles Jones, a Douglas County commissioner whose seat is up for election. Also speaking were Bruce Baker, a KU associate professor who teaches courses on school finance.

The forum drew about 100 people.