Kansas State Department of Education

Wichita ? Reverting to an old public education funding system that would be acceptable to the Kansas Supreme Court would help more than half of the state’s schools, but suburban Kansas City schools would take a hit, according to data from the Kansas Department of Education.

Statewide, 79 districts, including several in Johnson County, would suffer net losses in state aid if the state returns to the old equalization formula, while 162 districts would see increases, according to Kansas Department of Education numbers. Another 45 districts would have flat funding, The Wichita Eagle reported.

The Kansas Supreme Court told lawmakers in February that restoring the state’s old equalization formula would address the inequities between school districts, but the court left lawmakers room to explore other options. The court said it could close schools if lawmakers fail to fix inequities before July.

The old formula provided more money to districts that were considered property poor, to “equalize” them with districts considered property rich. Property-poor districts have to tax at a higher rate to raise the same amount of funding as their richer peers.

Last year, the Legislature scrapped the old formula. Instead it adopted “block grants” based on what districts received previously. Backers anticipated from the beginning that legislators would draft a replacement formula.

The Shawnee Mission school district stands to lose $3 million in state aid if the state ditches the block grants for the old equalization formula, while the Blue Valley School District would lose $2.4 million.

Another issue with using the old formula is that it would also require the cash-strapped state to spend $35.6 million more for the 2016-2017 school year. The state already faces a budget shortfall of about $48 million for this year, after it missed tax revenue estimates by $53.5 million last month.

Rep. Ron Ryckman Jr., R-Olathe, the House Appropriations chair, said the analysis that shows some districts losing money “would make it very difficult for legislators” to vote in favor of a bill even in the face of the court’s threat to close schools.

Johnson County’s 34-member legislative delegation includes conservative and moderate Republicans, who often split on school issues.

“This is the one thing that would unify the Johnson County delegation,” said Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, predicting that neither conservatives nor moderates would vote for a plan that gives less state aid to county schools.