Topeka ? Higher education funding on Tuesday moved to the front of the class under Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ proposed budget, but public schools got left behind.

In the spending plan, higher education would receive a $42.2 million — or approximately 3.2 percent– spending increase, while the major component of school funding would stay flat.

Sebelius’ budget director, Duane Goossen, said the budget carried forward current spending, plus “have-to” increases for health-care entitlement programs and several targeted extras.

“We have built the budget within existing resources,” Goossen said. He added, however, that higher education did better than most.

“Comparatively, that would be the best increase in the budget,” he said.

Paul Carttar, executive vice chancellor for external affairs at Kansas University, said KU officials were pleased with the proposed base increase, which would be the largest that higher education officials have seen in at least four years. But with a state Supreme Court ruling ordering the Legislature to increase public school funding, he acknowledged administrators were only “cautiously optimistic.”

“This is the first step in a long process,” Carttar said. “Given these questions that surround K-12 education, we’re not taking anything for granted.”

Overall, Sebelius’ proposed $4.841 billion spending blueprint for the fiscal year that starts July 1 represents a 3.4 percent increase in general tax spending from the current fiscal year.

But of that $160 million increase, about $135 million must be spent to take care of increasing numbers of Medicaid recipients and new debt obligations, Goossen said.

Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, talks with another legislator during the opening session Monday. The Legislature had to wait until Tuesday to hear Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' budget proposal, which favors a spending increase for higher education.

Lawmakers will start dissecting the 800-plus page document today.

School proposal

On school funding, Sebelius proposed keeping the base state aid at the current level of $3,863 per pupil, where it has been for the past three years.

Last year, Sebelius pushed for a $300 million tax increase for schools, but the Republican-dominated Legislature rejected it. Now Sebelius, a Democrat, says it’s time for legislative leaders to come up with a plan.

“So, I’m just saying to the leaders, ‘Show me the meat, boys. How are you going to solve this?'” Sebelius said in an interview.

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Goossen said the governor believed the Legislature needed to address the issue separate from her budget recommendation.

Randy Weseman, superintendent of Lawrence public schools, said he approved of the governor’s approach.

“It makes perfect sense to me,” he said. “I think it’s the prudent move and it’s logical. She stepped forward with a $300 million proposal for public education, and they ignored it.”

But Weseman said he remained pessimistic the Legislature would come forward with an acceptable plan by the April 12 deadline imposed by the court.

“The Legislature could relinquish control of schools,” Weseman said. “That’s a possibility. That ought to scare the people of Kansas to death. Nobody knows what would happen.”

Aside from base aid, Sebelius proposes funding a teacher-mentor program with $1 million and providing $2.5 million for teacher training.

Pay raises

Also under the proposal, state employees will receive a 2.5 percent pay raise. Universities will receive an additional $3.3 million to add merit pay increases for faculty that, if given out equally, would mean about a 1 percent pay increase on top of the 2.5 percent increase for all state employees.

Joe Sicilian, an economics professor at KU and president of the University Senate Executive Committee, said he thought the approximately 3.5 percent salary increase was in “the range of what we might expect given the general state of the budget.”

“It’s not going to allow us to take a very big step toward correcting the disparity with peer institutions,” Sicilian said. “But given the state of the state budget, it’s hard for them to do much to catch up.”

He also said the overall budget increase would improve morale at the university.

“There are a lot of needs at the university,” he said. “Salaries are one of them. But general funding is very important to faculty as well.”

On another pay issue, Kansas Highway Patrol troopers will get a 10 percent pay increase as part of a two-year package that Sebelius agreed to last year in the face of salary disputes.

Also, Sebelius must come up with $32.6 million to provide for a 27th pay period for state employees, a situation that arises every 11 years. Sebelius plans to borrow the funds from the state’s numerous fund balances, and then repay it at the rate of $3 million per year.

The budget also seeks to reduce waiting lists for low-income elderly Kansans seeking in-home services. But it wouldn’t provide enough funding to take care of waiting lists for programs that serve the developmentally and physically disabled.

Another big ticket item is an increase in the contract to provide health care services for state inmates. The last multiyear contract had a price tag of $27 million; the contract that will start in July has increased to $41.2 million

Goossen said that increase was due to increasing health care costs.

Goossen said state government had weathered tough economic times that in recent years caused a record drop in tax receipts. Now, he stated: “The economy is better.” State budget officials have predicted personal income growth of 4.9 percent this year.

— The Associated Press contributed information to this report.