To the editor:

“It often happens around 4 a.m., in the last moments of a grueling legislative session. The final budget figures have been nailed down, and a select group of lawmakers, lobbyists and others meet — sometimes talk over the telephone — to decide how Kansas taxpayers will pay for it all.” — Journal-World, Sept. 11

While this may be nothing new it could be considered irresponsible with our current fiscal dilemma. Funding public education is a huge concern to a large number of taxpayers in the state of Kansas.

Locally, Schoolfunders, a grassroots organization in Lawrence, say that it is the Legislature’s job to find more funding for the public school system to prevent inequity from occurring and without a local sales tax. Thursday morning some details emerged on a local sales tax option that could be on the ballot in November 2004.

The magnitude of funding public education should, by no means, be taken lightly. We deserve to have this matter resolved in a timely manner, certainly not in the wee hours of any morning. The state of Kansas needs to know if the Legislature is going to do its job or not. A freshman group of bipartisan legislators is ready to return early to do its job.

Richard Heckler,

Lawrence