On Friday morning, the Kansas Supreme Court will announce whether legislative action earlier this year is enough to both adequately and equitably fund public education — and, in the process, possibly end a longstanding debate about school funding.
During the 2019 legislative session, lawmakers added a $90 million adjustment as a way to satisfy court guidance from last year. The court gave its directions after lawmakers added $500 million in the 2018 session, saying that adjustment met prior mandates for equity but not for adequacy.
The amount of state funding for public schools has been a critical policy piece for better than 20 years in Kansas. The Supreme Court has issued six different rulings on education funding just in the last five years, and lawmakers agreed to increase funding over a decade ago after another ruling. However, that effort stopped as the Great Recession developed.
The Supreme Court’s ruling is expected around 9:30 am.
