Students from all six Kansas Regents universities are pushing to increase state funding to fix crumbling classrooms.

Kansas University student senators on Tuesday started a campaign of letters and phone calls aimed at getting Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and the Kansas Legislature to pay for upkeep and repairs totaling $727 million – including $284 million at KU. They also began a public awareness campaign among their fellow students.

“It’s important not only for student leaders’ voices to be heard, but the individual students across campus,” said Ian Staples, the legislative director for KU Student Senate.

Staples on Tuesday distributed postcards asking students to sign them if they want change; he plans to deliver the postcards personally to the governor.

“I have 4,000 postcards and I’ve gotten 500 back,” he said. “And hopefully we will get all 4,000 back. We will see what we can do.”

Student senators also asked students to call the governor’s office to voice their support. They found a receptive audience Tuesday.

“Especially in Mallott and Haworth, those two are not up for par for science experiments and tests and things like that,” said Victoria Faulkner, a junior.

Officials estimate an additional $84 million is needed annually by the six state universities to prevent the maintenance backlog from growing – but this year only $15 million of the $84 million was distributed.

Staples says he hopes this campaign will spur Sebelius to get the ball rolling.

“We are her constituents and they should provide these things when the public demands it,” he said.

The campaign continues today.