Topeka ? Republican state senators today released a plan to increase school funding by $65 million.

The plan would be paid for by increases in liquor taxes and altering state tax refund policies.

State Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, said the proposal would “help the schools get through this year.”

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, called the plan “a step in the right direction,” although she said she hadn’t had time to analyze it yet.

Under the proposal, the Lawrence school district would get about $1 million in additional school funding during the next school year.

State Sen. Mark Buhler, R-Lawrence, called the plan a “Band-Aid” approach, but possibly the best attempt so far on a compromise on school funding.

A plan by Sebelius to increase state income, sales and property taxes to fund a three-year, $304 million increase in school funding has been rejected in the House and Senate.

A House Republican leadership proposal could raise $92 million for schools. But it has run into stiff opposition from both parties because it relies mostly on increases in local property taxes.

State Sen. Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said the GOP plan in the Senate was designed to provides schools assitance while the Legislature awaits a Kansas Supreme Court ruling on school finance.

A lower court has declared the school finance system unconstitutiuonal because it under-funds students, especially minority students. The state has appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Saturday’s Journal-World.