The Kansas Supreme Court today issued an order setting the deadlines for arguments on whether the legislative school finance law is constitutional.
The state and the school districts will have until Friday, June 30, to submit briefs. Then they will have a response deadline of Friday, July 7. Oral arguments are scheduled at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 18, before the Kansas Supreme Court.
The decision allowed Senate Bill 19, the school finance legislation, to go into effect until the court determines whether it is constitutional. The court stated this action “should not be misconstrued as our prejudging that ultimate question.” The Kansas City, Kansas, School Board held a special budget meeting Monday night.
Alan Rupe, attorney for school districts that filed suit in the Gannon case, including the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, said the court’s deadline of June 30 for the Legislature to provide funding has been pushed back until the court issues a new order.
Both sides asked the court to expedite its decision, as the school districts need to know by Aug. 4 what their budgets are. He said he believes there is enough time for the Legislature to go back to work on the school finance bill. That happened before in 2006-2007, he added.
The plaintiff school districts plan to argue that Senate Bill 19, the school finance legislation, is unconstitutional because of its underfunding and its disruption to the equity of school funding, according to Rupe.
While Senate Bill 19 provided more funding to the school districts, the amount in the bill was far below the amount that was heard earlier by a trial court, and that was suggested by the Kansas Board of Education and legislative studies, he said last week when the bill was signed.