TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the debate in Kansas over increasing funding for public schools (all times local):
4p.m.
A new report from two out-of-state consultants says improving student performance in Kansas public schools could cost the state as much as $2 billion more a year.
The report released Friday stunned some legislators. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in October that the state’s more than $4 billion in spending a year on aid to public schools isn’t sufficient under the state constitution.
The report outlined multiple spending scenarios, and all assumed that the state would boost its high school graduation rate from 86 percent to 95 percent within four years. That would be the nation’s highest rate.
The consultants’ lowest projected increase in annual spending would be $451 million, or almost 10 percent. The largest figure tops $2 billion. The consultants suggested phasing in any increase over five years.
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11:45 p.m. Thursday
Kansas legislators are receiving an education funding report that could determine how lawmakers respond to a state Supreme Court mandate to boost spending on public schools.
Legislative attorneys are slated to present the report Friday during a joint meeting of House and Senate committees on school funding. The study comes from two out-of-state consultants hired by Republican leaders.
The GOP-controlled Legislature’s work on a school finance law aimed at satisfying the court has been on hold for several months while lawmakers waited for the study.
The court ruled in October that the state’s aid to its school districts of more than $4 billion a year isn’t sufficient under the Kansas Constitution. The court hinted that funding might have to rise by $650 million a year but allowed for new cost studies.