TOPEKA, Kan. (Legal Newsline) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced June 16 that he has urged the state’s supreme court to move quickly and approve the new school finance plan that Gov. Sam Brownback recently signed into law.
Schmidt filed a notice of legislative cure with the court in which he argues the new legislation “complies with this court’s opinion … and is reasonably calculated to have all Kansas public education students meet or exceed” the requirements established by the court.
The reason for the promptness, Schmidt states, is that the court had only given the legislature until June 30 to bring the Kansas school-funding system into compliance with the state constitution. Schmidt is urging the court to complete its review or extend the deadline.
Schmidt noted that the existing law governing school finance will be invalidated if the school-funding system is not approved by the deadline. If this happens, funding for public schools would be shut off and some schools could be closed.