Topeka ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and public school advocates Friday geared up for a showdown vote next week in the Senate on Sebelius’ plan to increase taxes for schools.

Sebelius, a Democrat, turned up the pressure, meeting with senators one-on-one, contacting businesses and hundreds of Kansans statewide and calling on Republicans to provide an alternative if they shoot her plan down.

“If this bill does not pass, what’s the next step?” Sebelius asked at her weekly news conference. “I frankly have been a bit frustrated by the lack of dialogue with anyone.”

Meanwhile, Kansas Families United for Public Education called for school supporters to back the Sebelius plan and blitz the Legislature with e-mails and phone calls on Monday during a “virtual march.”

“The governor’s proposal is fair and farsighted, reasonable and responsible, and we applaud the political courage she demonstrated by offering it up,” said John Martellaro of Lenexa, the group’s president.

Sebelius’ plan would increase state income, sales and property taxes to fund a $304 million increase for schools over three years. The measure would mean about $2.1 million more for the Lawrence school district in the next school year.

But the proposal faces an uphill climb. Republicans hold a 30-10 advantage over Democrats in the Senate, and many lawmakers have said the chance of approving a tax increase during an election year was slim.

Senate President Dave Kerr, R-Hutchinson, said Republicans were working on funding plans but said schools shouldn’t get their hopes up because of the tight budget.

“You won’t see a big plan on education this year. It will be modest,” Kerr said, declining to give any details.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius outlines her Education First Plan in this January file photo at the Statehouse in Topeka. The Kansas Senate will debate and vote on the plan next week.

In addition, Republican legislative leaders have said they didn’t want to overhaul school finance before the Kansas Supreme Court had ruled on a lower-court decision that said Kansas schools were unconstitutionally under-funded and the method of financing discriminated against minorities.

A bill that would accelerate the appeal of the lower-court ruling to the Kansas Supreme Court has been approved in the Senate and will be considered next week by the House. If it is passed, Sebelius said she will sign it into law.

But Sebelius said lawmakers shouldn’t wait for an appeal to work on school finance.

“It’s a terrible mistake and a real abdication of responsibility to wait for the court to make a decision for us to act on moving education funding forward. I don’t think the kids can afford to wait, and I think legislators are here to do that job,” she said.

Martellaro also criticized the wait-for-an-appeal strategy.

“We don’t understand why so many legislators are so intent on marching into the Supreme Court with ‘kick me’ signs taped to their backsides,” Martellaro said. “We wonder if they want the courts to force responsible school funding down their throats, just so they can duck the responsibility they were elected to uphold.”

Senate nears vote on education funding plan (2-18-04) Legislators continue review of governor’s education plan (2-17-04) Governor stays steadfast on plan for state schools (2-14-04) More stories on school finance