Agreement reached on school finance proposal

Topeka ? Public schools would receive up to a $127 million funding increase under an agreement reached Thursday by key legislators.

The Republican plan contains no statewide tax increase, but provides the option for school districts to increase local property taxes.

So far, the Senate hasn’t determined how it will fund the proposal, while the House has voted to cut funds to higher education and delay a state employee pay raise to provide more money to public schools. The plan was the most significant school finance proposal yet to emerge from this legislative session.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, said the lack of a permanent funding source in the Republican school finance effort was like “paying your mortgage on your credit card.”

But Republicans on the House-Senate conference committee who reached the agreement said it represented a compromise.

“There are some things I don’t like about it, and some things I do like about it,” Sen. Jean Schodorf, R-Wichita, said.

But the two Democrats on the six-member conference committee predicted if the bill became law it would be rejected by the Kansas Supreme Court.

The court has given lawmakers until April 12 to increase funding to schools and distribute those funds in a more equitable manner.

The Senate may take up the proposal today, while the House will consider it next week. The Legislature has scheduled adjournment April 1 and are not planning to return until April 27 for the wrap-up session.

“It appears once again, we are doing everything for wealthy districts and doing very little for the poor districts with this offer,” said Sen. Janis Lee, D-Kensington.

text Senate advances budget without education funds (03-24-05)text Hensley proposes tax increases for schools (03-19-05)text Experts differ on impact of Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (03-18-05)text Kansas spends less on schools, but not Kansans (03-18-05)text More on School Finance

Rep. Bruce Larkin, D-Baileyville, said of the conference committee plan: “We’ve now married an inadequate plan with a disequalizing plan.”

The conference committee started with a $116 million plan approved by the House, and a $147 million plan approved by the Senate.

The proposal would increase base state aid from $3,863 per student to $4,207 per student, and possibly as high as $4,222 per student.

The measure would also increase funding for at-risk and special education students and programs for students whose first language is not English.

In addition, the proposal would allow local school districts to increase local property taxes for schools. Lawrence would also be one of 16 districts that could institute a special property tax for teacher salaries.

The proposals to allow local districts to increase taxes make the school finance system more unfair, Democrats claimed.

For example, for the Galena school district in southeast Kansas to increase its budget by 5 percent a 20 mill increase in the property tax would be required, while in Lawrence a 5 percent budget increase would require but a 3 mill increase.

But Rep. Kathe Decker, R-Clay Center, who is chairwoman of the House Education Committee, said the state Supreme Court provided no direction on how the state should handle the question of local property taxes.

“We’re trying our best to reach what they said,” Decker said.

Topeka — Former Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer visited the Capitol on Thursday and criticized a House plan to cut funds to public universities.”To meet their responsibility for K through 12 (education) by stealing opportunities from kids in universities is just poor public policy,” Sherrer said.Sherrer, a Republican, served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Bill Graves. He was attending a meeting of legislators and higher education officials who will be fighting to reverse the House action.House leaders said the reductions to universities — $2.3 million from current funding levels to $13.7 million from a budget proposed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius — were needed to help fund an approved $116 million increase for public schools.Sherrer disagreed.”I never thought I would see the day when the Legislature would pit one group against another, as if it were a zero-sum game,” he said.