http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nat...0,942637.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Court says Kansas must increase school funding, slams tax cuts


9:20 PM EST, January 11, 2013


OVERLAND PARK, Kansas (Reuters) - Kansas is unconstitutionally
short-changing its students by underfunding education needs and must
increase spending by about $400 million, a three-judge panel ruled
unanimously on Friday.

The court said it was "illogical" for the state to argue that it could
not adequately fund schools at the same time it slashed income taxes.

The ruling is the latest in a series of court victories for a group of
public school districts, parents and students in Kansas who have
demanded for years that the state provide more money for education.

A funding plan was devised for Kansas in 2006 through a settlement of a
prior lawsuit but the groups filed suit again in 2010 when the state
made an estimated $300 million in funding cuts. The state made even more
cuts in 2011. There have been $511 million in cuts to the base funding
between fiscal year 2009 and fiscal 2012.

"This is just a wonderful victory for these school kids in Kansas," said
lawyer John Robb, whose firm represents the plaintiffs in the case,
which was filed in Shawnee County District Court in Topeka, Kansas.

"The (state) constitution says they have rights to an adequately funded
education," Robb said. "And the courts have said yes ... it means what
it says."

Kansas is one of many U.S. states with Republican majority legislatures
and governors who are arguing that tax cuts will encourage business and
stimulate the economy while critics fear negative impacts on social
services and education.

In the ruling, the court addressed that issue specifically, saying that
it made no sense for the state to argue that its finances were tight and
increasing education spending could have "disastrous consequences to the
Kansas economy," while it was intentionally reducing revenues by cutting
the state income tax.

"It seems completely illogical that the state can argue that a reduction
in education funding was necessitated by the downturn in the economy and
the state's diminishing resources and at the same time cut taxes
further," the court said.

Governor Sam Brownback, a Republican who has advocated for the tax cuts,
said he ruling was "disappointing but not unexpected."

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Brownback is trying to encourage the growth of private,
church-affiliated schools in his state by shortchanging the public schools.