Topeka ? Having rejected four proposals to increase taxes to benefit school districts, the Senate spurned two plans Friday that would have relied on existing revenues to boost state aid.

A $35 million proposal from the chamber’s Republican leaders went down on a 21-16 vote. The measure depended partly on delaying a promised 3 percent raise for state workers.

Sen. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia, then offered a version that would have protected the pay raise but sent school districts an additional $25 million. The vote was 25-15 against his proposal.

House members have already passed a $155 million school finance bill — which the Senate rejected Thursday night — and Senate leaders had hoped to get something through their chamber on the final day before legislators began a recess that ends April 28.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and her fellow Democrats had panned the $35 million proposal, calling it embarrassing and unfair.

“I don’t think it offers much in terms of a comprehensive plan for schools,” Sebelius said in her weekly news conference. “Most importantly, I think it takes money from other critical areas.”

The $35 million plan included $10 million reaped from deferring a 3 percent raise for state workers for six months. The rest would come from lottery revenue, unclaimed property and a delay in buying vehicles for the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Legislators included the full pay raise in a $10.2 billion budget they sent Sebelius on Thursday.

Sen. Christine Downey, D-Newton, said the plan was ill-conceived.

“Most of us would be embarrassed to have this be the Senate position,” Downey said.

Senate to consider no-new-tax plan for schools (4-2-04) See more on school finance

The House-passed bill would generate $155 million by raising the state’s 5.3 percent sales tax to 5.5 percent and imposing a 4.5 percent surcharge on individual income taxes. Schools would receive an additional $100 per pupil, plus more money for at-risk programs, bilingual education and special education.

In addition, the plan lets school boards raise local property taxes by up to $120 million with voter approval.

But the Senate turned down the House bill on Thursday, along with a $59 million proposal from Senate leaders that also relied partly on raising the sales tax.

Sebelius backs the House-approved plan, having seen both chambers reject her proposal to phase in a $304 million increase in education funding over three years.

The state currently spends $2.6 billion on aid to school districts. In December, Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock issued a preliminary order that labeled the existing school finance formula unconstitutional and the level of funding it yields inadequate.

Bullock’s ruling, which gave legislators until July 1 to revise the funding formula, has been appealed by the state to the Kansas Supreme Court.