(Online editor’s note: The following is the text of the official prolamation, released today by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ office, to call the Kansas Legislature into a special session on June 22 to deal with the Kansas Supreme Court’s order on school funding.)

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PROCLAMATION CALLING THE LEGISLATURE INTO THE SPECIAL SESSION FOR KANSAS SCHOOLS

TO THE PEOPLE OF KANSAS, GREETINGS:

WHEREAS, As Kansans, we hold a fundamental belief in the life-changing power of education and learning; and

WHEREAS, In today’s economy, first-rate schools represent the best investment we can make for our children and for the future of our state; and

WHEREAS, Education is the most important function of state government and the very foundation of good citizenship; and

WHEREAS, Our goal as leaders should be to create and maintain a high-quality education system, where every child enters school ready to succeed and leaves on a path to a productive future; and

WHEREAS, The ruling of the Kansas Supreme Court in Montoy v. State of Kansas has created an extraordinary occasion, in which the Legislature must meet its constitutional responsibility as set out in Article 6, § 6 of the Kansas Constitution to make suitable provision for finance of the educational interests of the state;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF KANSAS, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution of the State of Kansas, do hereby call the

Legislature of the State of Kansas into

Special Session for Kansas Schools

at the Capitol in Topeka, Kansas, on the 22nd day of June, 2005, at the hour of 10:00 o’clock a.m., to enact legislation by July 1, 2005 to respond to the ruling of the Kansas Supreme Court in Montoy v. State of Kansas.

DONE: At the Capitol in Topeka

under the Great Seal of the

State this 9th day of

June, A.D. 2005