Topeka ? A much-anticipated cost study says public schools need an increase of at least $316 million.

The study, released this morning by the Legislature’s Division of Post Audit, will be used by lawmakers as the 2006 legislative session got under way today.

The report says the state must spend more on educating students from low-income families, students with special education needs, and those whose first language isn’t English.

The report said schools will need from $316 million to $399 million in the next school year to comply with the constitutional requirement of suitable funding.

An increase of $624 million would be necessary to reduce all class sizes to a maximum of 20 students, the study said.

The study is the result of a long-running lawsuit in which the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the state had underfunded schools. Last year, lawmakers pumped $290 million into the $3 billion school system and then commissioned the study to see what to do next.

Alan Rupe, attorney for the plaintiff school districts, said the new study “charts a path to attain a constitutional education for Kansas kids.”

Rupe said a $399 million increase is the minimum needed for the next year.

“The kids that cost the most to educate … we are still not spending the money we need to spend to make education in Kansas adequate for them,” Rupe said.

Legislative leaders said they believed the proposal could be funded without a tax increase, and they reacted positively to the report.

“For the first time, we have credible data that lets us focus on the needs of groups of kids and sort through the noisy demands of interest groups,” Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, said.

“This points us in a direction where we need to move,” he said.

Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka said the report, like previous ones, showed the state has failed to adequately fund schools.

“Each time the studies tell us the same thing, we are just not meeting our obligations to the kids of Kansas,” Hensley said.

“I’m not going to say I told you so, but we really were telling them (Republicans) so,” he said.

Republicans and Democrats must work together to resolve the issue, he said.

Hensley said the study also focuses on the needs of children who first brought a lawsuit challenging the school finance system.

“This highlights the root cause of the case that came to us to begin with, that we were not funding urban and low-income school districts adequately.

“This study readily points out that we have to do a better job in closing the achievement gap and really fund low-income kids,” Hensley said.

Rep. Kathe Decker, R-Clay Center, chair of the House Education Committee, said the report represented a good faith effort by the Legislature and post audit division.

“You may not agree with them, but they have done a very thorough job,” she said.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said she planned to meet with legislative leaders Wednesday to talk about the study.

“This will be the primary topic … how we are going to approach getting a bill where the Legislature can pass it, I can sign it and we can move forward,” Sebelius said.

Sebelius and legislative leaders talked about a multi-year funding plan for schools.

But Rupe said, “If we talk about a multi-year deal, I’m afraid we are going to drop behind. We need to achieve adequacy and equity now.”

See earlier story.