(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Sept. 19, 2016)
All eyes focus this week on the Kansas Supreme Court which hears arguments on the school finance case that will determine whether the Legislature has adequately funded Kansas public schools.
And the two possibilities are, of course, yes or no.
If the court determines that the Legislature has spent enough money on K-12 education that children from border to border have equal access to education, it’s all over except for how to split up that money among 278 school districts with widely different sizes, number of pupils, readiness and abilities of pupils.
But there aren’t many inside the Statehouse who are looking for that result, and are bracing for a decision that orders the Legislature to appropriate more money for schools. That’s where it gets painful for the 40 Senate and 125 House members, many of whom will be new to the Legislature after this November’s elections and likely still will be learning their parking space number when they get the bill.