Topeka ? The chief architect of a proposed new formula for funding public schools in Kansas said Friday that he is optimistic the House will vote on some version of that plan early next month, before lawmakers adjourn for a three-week break.

“There’s not a lot in here that hasn’t been gone over in hearings on other bills, so the components, there’s really nothing new,” Rep. Clay Aurand, R-Belleville, said Friday after the second day of testimony on his plan.

Several school officials who testified Friday said there were aspects of the bill they like, such as its funding for all-day kindergarten.

But they also continued to express strong reservations about other portions of the bill, including the fact that it calls for increasing state spending on K-12 schools by only $75 million next year, a figure that some called “woefully inadequate.”

Among those who submitted testimony Friday was Eudora school district superintendent Steve Splichal, who said one of his main concerns is that it does not fully fund special education services at the legally-required level of 92 percent of “excess costs” — the costs over and above what it costs to provide regular education services.

“This year, our district is sending our special education cooperative just under $1 million to help cover the excess costs,” Splichal said in written testimony to the committee. “If (the bill) were amended to reflect the complete funding for 92 percent of excess costs, our local district’s share drops to about $80,000.”

Splichal also expressed concern over how the bill would fund career and technical education.

The bill would eliminate the “weighting” factor that was part of the old funding formula that lawmakers repealed in 2015 and instead require districts to fund those programs out of the regular, per-pupil “foundation” funding that would go to each district.

The House K-12 Education Budget Committee plans to continue hearing testimony on the bill Monday, and then begin working on amendments to the bill shortly after that.

At least three other school funding plans have been offered in the committee, but Aurand said the current bill will most likely be the vehicle for whatever plan the committee sends to the full House.

“This is a compilation,” he said. “There are pieces out of those that are in this bill. If there’s something wrong, we’ll have plenty of time next week and fix it. I think you’ll see it simplified.”