In this June 7, 2017 file photo, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback comments during a news conference about the Legislature's override of his veto of a bill increasing income taxes to fix the state budget, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/John Hanna, File)

Topeka ? Gov. Sam Brownback signed a new school funding plan into law Thursday, but the Kansas Supreme Court still must decide whether the new plan meets constitutional standards for adequacy and equity.

In signing the bill, Brownback issued a statement saying it represents some improvement over the old formula that lawmakers repealed two years ago, at his urging. But he said he believed lawmakers could have done better.

“The Legislature missed an opportunity to substantially improve the K-12 funding system,” Brownback said. “They did, however, direct more dollars into the classroom by limiting bond and interest aid, encouraging responsible financial stewardship at the local level. Additionally, they included a sunset on the school funding system, allowing for a regular and robust discussion about the needs of Kansas students.”

The bill reinstates a per-pupil funding formula similar to the one that had been in place for more than 20 years before lawmakers repealed it. It also adds “weightings” to each school district’s student count to account for the higher cost of educating students in poverty or in non-English speaking households.

Statewide, it phases in over two years roughly $295 million in additional K-12 funding. For the Lawrence school district, the new formula will mean nearly $4.8 million in additional state aid, including special education funding, according to Kansas State Department of Education estimates.

Lawrence would also qualify for about $1.4 million in additional local option budget authority, which is additional money that districts are allowed to raise through local property taxes, above and beyond what they receive in state aid.

The Kansas Supreme Court still must review the plan. In March, the court struck down the current funding law as inadequate and unconstitutional, and it gave lawmakers until June 30 to pass a new plan that would meet constitutional muster.

Plaintiffs in the ongoing school finance lawsuit have said they will argue that the additional funding contained in the measure is still inadequate. They have suggested that something closer to $900 million a year in new funding is needed to provide schools with the resources needed to give students a constitutionally adequate education.

Others, however, said the court was not specific in its March order about how much additional money would be needed, and that it only said the amount must be “reasonably calculated” to ensure all students have an opportunity to receive an adequate education.

Both the Supreme Court and the trial court a year earlier put great emphasis on the fact that roughly 25 percent of Kansas students were not performing at grade level on reading and math tests.

Supporters of the new funding formula argued that it responds to those concerns by increasing the weighting districts receive for bilingual and “at-risk” students and by requiring those additional funds be used for evidence-based programs approved by the Kansas State Department of Education aimed at raising those students up to grade level.