Topeka ? House leaders are proposing a $500 million school funding increase over three years, targeting at-risk students while holding school districts more accountable on student achievement, according to documents obtained Wednesday night by The Associated Press.

The plan, funded with existing state revenues, is the first to emerge from the chamber in response to a Legislative Division of Post Audit study last month.

The first year would increase spending by $175 million and set aside $500,000 for teachers seeking certification in bilingual courses. An additional $325 million would be distributed over the second and third years, targeting poor and minority students as identified by the study.

“I think it is a workable plan. It’s a plan we hope will answer the court’s concerns but at the same time it’s not dumbing down our rural schools,” said House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka. “What we tried to do is take into consideration the court case, the resources we have and what is fair for children no matter where they live in Kansas.”

Additional details were expected this morning from members of the House Select Committee on School Finance. The plan is the product of negotiations since the start of the session between legislative leaders and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

The study concluded that legislators needed to increase spending by as much as $470 million to satisfy a constitutional mandate to adequately fund public schools and to comply with rulings by the Kansas Supreme Court in 2005.

Rural school districts would continue to get a greater proportion of money for being small, as they do under the current finance formula, than their larger counterparts. But under the study’s recommendations, rural districts could lose as much as $136 million they now receive – a notion the House plan rejects.

The House plan also would hold schools and school districts to greater accountability.

Districts would be required to determine spending priorities, to be reviewed by the Kansas Department of Education.

Schools failing to meet yearly student progress on state tests would be required to redistribute money to make improvements. Failing that, schools would face greater scrutiny by state education officials.

“I think it’s pretty reasonable. We spent a lot of time talking with a lot of people trying to build a consensus,” said House Minority Leader Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg. “It does put a meaningful amount of money into education and does address the key issues.”

Last year, legislators increased school spending by $290 million to more than $3 billion, including $148 million added during a special session last summer prompted by Supreme Court orders.

Despite signing off on the increases, the court said after the special session that education funding still was insufficient and suggested it would order more money absent legislative action in 2006.

The multiyear plan didn’t find favor with attorneys for parents and administrators from Dodge City and Salina, who sued the state over school funding in 1999.

Their lead attorney, Alan Rupe, said he’s still concerned about phasing in the increase because inflation will increase schools’ costs. Also, he said schools face rising standards for student performance because federal mandates.

“It’s like trying to pay off a huge credit card balance by paying less than the minimum payment,” he said.

Rupe said he doesn’t object to holding rural districts harmless, as long as legislators provide enough money to help at-risk, poor and minority students.

Senators are working on their own plan, which they expect to introduce next week.

Thus far, only one plan has been made public: a four-year, $400 million package offered by Sen. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia, who included the package among his proposals in his bid for the GOP nomination for governor.