Leaders in the Kansas House and Senate made sure the new school finance bill skated through the Legislature in record time. For the sake of public school districts throughout the state, the governor, attorney general and Kansas Supreme Court now must make sure the legal ramifications of this bill are settled with equal dispatch.

Legislation that will scrap the state school finance formula that has been in effect for more than 20 years and replace it with a temporary block grant funding system was approved by the Kansas Senate on Monday, just 12 days after it was introduced. The bill produced a little drama when House members were locked into the chamber last Friday while Republican leaders rounded up enough votes to gain a narrow victory for the bill.

No such heroics were required in the Senate. House leaders used a “gut and go” procedure to replace the contents of an unrelated bill passed by the Senate with the text of the school funding bill. As a result, an already assured majority of senators only had to concur with the House vote — without any opportunity for amendments.

The measure now is on its way to the governor. There seems to be little reason Gov. Brownback wouldn’t sign a bill whose basic provisions he outlined in his State of the State address in January. With that in mind, the governor should waste no time in acting on the legislation.

Assuming the bill is signed into law, the issue will move almost immediately into the courts, which already have indicated they might take action to block its implementation.

While all of this is going on, local public school officials are left to wonder not only how much money they will receive for next year, but how cuts could affect their ability to fulfill the contracts and expenses for which they already are committed for the rest of this year. The Lawrence school district, for instance, likely would have to dip into its reserve funds to absorb a $1.6 million funding cut for the current year.

Amid the state funding uncertainty, it’s virtually impossible for school officials to make reasonable budget decisions for this year and next. This is a complicated issue made far more complicated by the political battles and the growing disregard the governor and legislators are expressing for the state’s judicial branch.

Resolving these issues won’t be easy, but all the branches of state government have a duty to expedite their considerations and try to give school officials the information they need to keep the state’s K-12 school system operating smoothly.