Emporia ? A conservative senator said Thursday night that he would push a constitutional amendment to prevent the Kansas Supreme Court from telling legislators how much to spend on education, as his colleagues continued to disagree about how to respond to a recent court ruling.

Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, unveiled his proposal during a two-hour meeting of GOP senators at Emporia State University. Republicans hold 30 of 40 Senate seats, and 22 attended the meeting.

Journey and some other conservative Republicans want to defy the Supreme Court’s order to provide an additional $143 million to public schools by July 1. His proposal would rewrite the state constitution’s education article.

Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius called a special legislative session, the first in more than 15 years, because of the court’s order. That session is scheduled to begin Wednesday.

“The only appeal left is to the people,” Journey said. “This constitutional amendment gives us a way to say, ‘You know, we did what we thought was best for the kiddies but we’re not knuckling under.'”

But a Kansas University law professor advised Journey and the other GOP senators to comply with the court’s order.

“The last thing that this state needs is a constitutional crisis,” said Stephen McAllister, who also is his university’s law school dean. “There’s just so little time now to deal with this issue and avoid a showdown.”

A showdown is exactly what at least a few Republicans think is necessary to preserve the Legislature’s authority.

“I’m really concerned about the precedent,” said Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler. “Putting anything in is saying they have the authority to dictate funding.”

Other Republicans looked to provide the additional funds and rewrite the formula that determines how aid to Kansas’ 300 school districts is distributed.

Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dwayne Umbarger said the court’s figure was the minimum amount legislators should consider.

“That’s not just capitulating and rolling over for the court,” said Umbarger, R-Thayer. “I think some of us understand the need for more money.”

But in Topeka, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Melvin Neufeld said the package should be somewhere around $86 million.

That’s the amount by which revenue projections for the next fiscal year were increased earlier this week. The new fiscal forecast also predicts the same amount of previously unanticipated revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30.

As for defying the court, Neufeld said it would be in keeping with his oath of office as a legislator to uphold the Kansas Constitution and its separation of powers.

“I do not believe I can acquiesce to the courts and keep my oath,” said Neufeld, R-Ingalls.

But House Minority Leader Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, said his Republican colleagues’ fire for defying the court had diminished.

“I think they’re starting to calm down,” he said. “I think they’re calming down and reassessing what they have to do.”

The revised revenue projections have caused Sebelius and legislators in both parties to say higher taxes won’t be necessary to meet the court’s order, at least in the short-term.