Kan. Supreme Court rules against school block grant

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday the state's new block grant funding law passed in 2015 does not meet requirements for equitable funding of public schools.

The high court, in its ruling, gave the Kansas Legislature another chance to create a constitutional school funding system and said if no constitutional funding system is in place by June 30, there will be no lawful system to distribute money to K-12 public schools.

The court said the legislature must revamp the way the state funds public schools as a law enacted last year, Senate Bill 7, underfunded poor school districts by at least $54 million, the Associated Press reported. The new school funding law was put in place while lawmakers try to devise a new funding mechanism.

"Without a constitutionally equitable school finance system, the schools in Kansas will be unable to operate beyond June 30," the court said in its unsigned ruling, which stems from a lawsuit that four school districts --Dodge City, Hutchinson, Wichita and Kansas City -- have been pursuing since 2010. The lawsuit argues that poor districts, along with disadvantaged and minority students, were hurt most by the law, the AP reported.

"Accordingly, the Legislature's chosen path during the 2016 session will ultimately determine whether Kansas students will be treated fairly and the schoolhouse doors will be open to them in August for the beginning of the 2016-17 school year," the ruling stated.

The court ruled Thursday that the block grant law violates the Kansas Constitution's requirement that the state finance a suitable education for every student. SB 7 replaced a per-student funding formula for distributing more than $4 billion per year to public schools.

The high court said it would not enforce a lower-court order that would have mandated an extra $54 million be allocated to Kansas schools and instead set a June 30 deadline for lawmakers.