From the Prairie Village Post:
Rep. Barbara Bollier (R, Mission Hills): “I am not surprised by the ruling released the morning. The Kansas Supreme Court has found that our block grant system of funding is NOT equitable. I voted against these block grants knowing that they did not meet constitutional muster. The court says we must follow our constitution and have until June 30 to fix it. By giving us until June 30 and by staying the adequacy portion of the lawsuit, we have a great opportunity to shape a funding formula that constitutionally provides an excellent education for the students of Kansas. I look forward to input from my constituents on this matter.”
Rep. Stephanie Clayton (R, Overland Park): “I look forward to us proceeding with caution as we figure out a way to best comply with the ruling. As always, my biggest concern is that we have dangerous- or unfriendly-to-public-education policies that would get added to the bill the legislature will create to comply with the ruling. That is something that we saw before in the spring of 2014 when we did an appropriations bill [to comply with an earlier ruling], most notably the tax credit program. That’s what I’m watching for and most worried about. People sometimes complain that the court is trying to tell us what to spend, but the court did not give us a number. They left the process up to us. We will get this done. We just need to watch it and make sure there isn’t any hostile policy inserted.”
Rep. Jarrod Ousley (D, Merriam): “Today’s ruling confirmed what I believed to be true when the block grants came before the House. The legislation is unconstitutional. It was the reason I voted against the block grants. The court has granted us the opportunity to correct the situation and do what is right for our children and our state. I’m ready to roll my sleeves up and get to work. We could save ourselves a great deal of time and angst if we would simply reinstate the old formula and fund it.”
Rep. Melissa Rooker (R, Fairway): “I have had very little time to read and review the decision in its entirety, however I have reviewed the summary judgment. It is very clear to me that the court has shown the utmost deference to the legislature’s constitutional responsibility to appropriate funds while simultaneously carrying out it’s own constitutional responsibility to review the constitutionality of the laws we make. It is high time that we in the legislature recognize that our responsibility is not discretionary when it comes to providing suitable funding for our public school system. The Supreme Court has given the legislature until June 30 to pass a school finance plan that meets the test of equity and adequacy in accordance with previous court rulings in the Gannon case. I will continue my work with a team of education stakeholders on a funding plan that fulfills our duty to the children of the state.”
Sen. Kay Wolf (R, Prairie Village): “The Kansas Supreme Court has executed their duties accordingly by rendering an opinion on the constitutionality of the school finance block grant equity portion. Now it is up to us as the legislative body to abide by the decision and rectify the issue. ”
Brandi Fisher, Executive Director, the MainStream Coalition: “The MainStream Coalition applauds the decision of the Kansas Supreme Court in upholding last summer’s ruling that the block grant funding scheme is inequitable. We are excited to see what the combination of election year accountability and this ruling has in store for public school funding as the Kansas Legislature grapples with a solution. We hope they will do the right thing, and reinvigorate our public schools with additional funds, ensuring that every Kansas child has the opportunity to succeed. This should not be a question of whether to finance education equitably, but rather of what failed revenue polices should be rolled back to accomplish it. We look forward to their work.”
Judith Deedy, Game On for Kansas Schools: “We agree with the Supreme Court’s decision today. We believe the legislature made certain promises to the Court and the schools in response to the Supreme Court’s earlier decision and then backed away from those promises. We hope the legislature responds by restoring funding rather than by cutting additional funding. We also hope Kansans pay attention to the responses of their local legislators in terms of school funding, the role of the courts and judicial retention elections. Courts and justices shouldn’t be punished for ensuring the legislature upholds its responsibility to our schools and our children.”
Shawnee Mission School District: “Shawnee Mission School District leaders are reviewing the ruling released this morning by the Kansas Supreme Court in relation to the Gannon v. Kansas case. The district will reserve comment until a thorough understanding of the ruling has been determined. As officials evaluate implications regarding the opinion, we will continue to advocate for a funding solution that is financially sustainable, promotes greater local funding flexibility, and ensures educational excellence for all students in Kansas.”