It sounds like a miracle cure for public school budgets.

Just convince voters in Douglas County to pass a quarter-cent sales tax for education and as much as $2.5 million annually will pour into cash-strapped districts in Lawrence, Eudora and Baldwin.

The idea has such allure that two candidates for Lawrence school board opened their campaigns by touting the sales tax scheme.

“I feel a tax increase could subsidize what the government and everybody has taken away,” said candidate Ron Powell. At this point, Powell and candidate Samuel Gould are on the sales tax bandwagon.

“We could pay our teachers more, hire more paraprofessionals, ease parents’ burdens as well as take our district into the age of high-tech, regardless of what happens at the federal or state level,” said Gould, who has said he would drop out of the race for personal reasons.

While a sales tax for education sounds like a miracle cure, legal and political obstacles make it unlikely such a proposal will soon appear on Douglas County ballots.

“The short answer is that we don’t think it’s legal,” said school board candidate Cindy Yulich. “I’d hate to take the money and then have to give it back.”

Such legal questions are emerging in Johnson County, where voters in August approved a quarter-cent sales tax that funnels $15 million annually to six public school districts.

Johnson County’s education sales tax was approved under a state statute that permits counties to give grants for economic development. Supporters have said schools drive economic development and therefore should be eligible for the money.

A district court judge in December dismissed an Olathe woman’s attempt to block officials from starting collection of the sales tax Jan. 1. However, the Kansas City, Kan., school board has vowed to file a lawsuit challenging the tax as a violation of constitutional provisions regarding equitable education of Kansas children.

That kind of legal wrangling is keeping Bob Johnson, chairman of the Douglas County Commission, on the sales tax sideline.

“I’m certainly not interested in pursuing it if there’s a possibility — or a probability — that it isn’t legal,” Johnson said. “It’s a little bit premature right now with that hanging over there.”

The Lawrence school board last year discussed the issue of a sales tax, and a majority of members were interested in the concept. No formal proposals emerged.

“I’m willing to let Johnson County lead the charge through the courts,” said board member Jack Davidson.

Board member Mary Loveland said the political dimension of a local sales tax for schools shouldn’t be ignored. Adoption might have the unintended effect of encouraging the Kansas Legislature and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to ignore their obligation to suitably finance schools, she said.

Related stories:¢ Judge OKs sales tax for schools (12-22-02)¢ School districts plan lawsuit on sales tax

“I personally would like to see … the state provide funding for education,” Loveland said.

Lawrence board President Scott Morgan was more blunt: “It’s a huge way to let the state off the hook.”

Sue Morgan, who is seeking re-election along with Loveland and Scott Morgan, said the timing wasn’t right for a sales tax vote for education in Douglas County. City and county governments are struggling with the weak economy and shortfalls in state funding, she said.

Movement toward reliance on local sales taxes is another example of the state avoiding difficult decisions about taxation, Sue Morgan said.

“No matter how you slice it, that still throws it back to locals,” she said. “I don’t think that’s the long-term fix.”