We are pleased to report the Kansas Supreme Court has issued its Gannon VII decision this morning and has held the latest state funding plan is constitutional. The Court will retain jurisdiction to ensure that we don’t have to go through another 10 years to try to enforce this decision as when the legislature reneged on the promises of Montoy, starting during the recession but then continuing for years after. From the decision:

“With that imprecision in mind, we hold the version of KSEEA in place with the adoption of S.B. 16 substantially complies with our orders expressed in Gannon VI, 308 Kan. at 374. S.B. 16 schedules annual increases to base aid figures over those increases contained in 2018’s S.B. 61. Its planned addition of approximately $90 million per year for four years would cover the $100 million increase in principal—due to past and present inflation—from approximately $522 million to about $622 million. And by employing estimates and projections now available, it also protects against the devaluing effects of future inflation on the $622 million. At the end of those four years, that protection for the base aid is provided through indexing to a CPI standard. The legislative record establishes the sole reason for these increases was to provide for inflation as required by our order in Gannon VI. While the plaintiffs submit an alternative calculation, the adequacy test ‘rejects any litmus test that relies on specific funding levels to reach constitutional compliance.’ Gannon IV, 305 Kan. at 917. And we did not order specific levels or even prescribe a particular method for how to calculate any levels…

“[T]he plaintiffs ask that we retain jurisdiction until all planned funding has been phased in successfully. As support, they specifically cite a legislative attempt to reclaim educational funds this session and the State’s reversal of course after Montoy IV was concluded but before the (full) funding approved there was phased in. They also can point to the State’s long-term failure to adequately fund education. See Gannon V, 306 Kan. at 1236 (‘Including today’s decision, by our count inadequacy has been judicially declared to exist from school years 2002-2003 through 2018-2019, with the possible exception of three years of ‘substantial compliance’ for ‘interim purposes.”).

“While we do conclude S.B. 16’s financial adjustments to the safe harbor plan bring the State into substantial compliance with our Gannon VI mandate, we retain jurisdiction to ensure continued implementation of the scheduled funding.”

You can read the opinion here: http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/opinions/SupCt/2019/20190614/113267.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2zOUzLVDhbghu_NoWx8piLg9VP2jjvgmi_vaJNmZCv0B162ZlAQrK4rQk

Originally posted to Facebook on 6/14/2019.