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Senate Chooses Not To Vote On School Funding Plan

Stephen Koranda
/
KPR/File photo

The Kansas Senate chose not to vote on a proposal that would have redistributed money among school districts to comply with a Supreme Court ruling. After a short debate on Monday, the chamber voted to send the bill back to committee for more work.

The Kansas Supreme Court says there are unconstitutional funding disparities between school districts. Justices say if the issue isn’t by this summer they could close schools.

The plan would have redistributed money, meaning many districts would end up losing funding.

Republican Senator Ty Masterson brought the bill. He has said he doesn’t much like the proposal, but he thought it would comply with the court ruling.

“After talking in caucus, clearly the Senate does not have an appetite for what is the purest response to the court,” Masterson says.

After the debate, Masterson introduced a so-called “hold harmless” proposal that would not cut funding from any district.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.