Topeka ? A special legislative committee studying options for reformatting K-12 public education funding in Kansas is preparing to review conflicting research studies.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the 15-member committee’s task is to lay the foundation of a new school finance formula.

The Kansas Policy Institute is pushing a report that points to the inability of the state’s $3.6 billion program targeting at-risk students to close the academic gap between poor and wealthy students.

KPI policy director James Franko said “Origins of the at-risk funding system may have been noble, but the results show an unfortunate reality that falls short of original ideals.”

According to G.A. Buie, executive director of United School Administrators of Kansas, the development of a new formula for financing public schools must acknowledge some students require more financial support to have an equal opportunity to be ready for college or career upon graduation from high school.

The Kansas Association of School Boards released a report this month arguing a link exists between funding of schools and student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Legislators and Gov. Sam Brownback eliminated the old finance formula and imposed a block-grant system for two years. A three-judge panel in Shawnee County District Court ruled the system was unconstitutional, but the decision is being appealed.