(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers July 15, 2013)
Already, months before the October hearing before the Kansas Supreme Court on whether the state needs to pony up more than $440 million in additional money for K-12 schools, the governor has been put on notice that state statutes require him to seek $672 million more in school aid next year.
The court case: School districts have already been awarded—and put on hold until the Supremes think it through—that $440 million by a three-judge panel at the district court level. The Supreme Court case essentially will be to apply the official stamp of approval for that expenditure.