69ý

Federal

Kansas Governor Warns of Tax Hike if State Loses Funding Case

By Daarel Burnette II — October 12, 2016 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, known for his famous 2012 experiment to slash away at taxes, said Kansas would have to raise taxes if it loses an education funding fight in the state supreme court.

The court heard oral arguments last month in Gannon v. Kansas, in which four of the state’s poorest districts argue that Kansas doesn’t adequately support their school systems. Based on several studies, the districts argue that they need $800 million to $900 million more from the state in order to provide students with the services necessary to meet the state’s academic standards.

“You’d have to look at major tax increases to do that,” Brownback told The Wichita Eagle late last month.

After a series of income-tax cuts in 2012 and 2013—reductions Brownback pushed for—the state has fallen far short of its revenue projections. It faces a $45 million budget shortfall in October alone, according to local reports.

The Sunflower State lost a separate part of the school funding case dealing with equity earlier this year and was ordered to provide its poor districts with $38 million more. The state answered that ruling by taking money from other state agencies and handing it to poorer districts. The state spends around $6 billion a year on K-12 education.

If Kansas loses the other part of the case, the adequacy ruling, it would require the state to provide more money to all its districts. The justices are expected to issue a ruling in late November, after Election Day. At least five of the justices are up for re-election.

Kansas’ supreme court justices last week expressed deep concern with the amount of money the state has provided its public school districts, as the state sought to challenge a lower-court decision that found the state’s funding system inadequate, according to the Associated Press.

Funding and Test Scores

During the hearing that took place in September, the plaintiffs used the state’s learning standards and test scores to show judges that budget cuts have directly affected academic results.

That’s a legal maneuver used by a growing number of lawyers for districts across the country with overwhelmingly large populations of black, Hispanic, and poor students.While the argument got mixed results before 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act provided district lawyers with reams of test-score data. Separately, state legislatures in recent decades adopted statewide academic standards—in Kansas, they are known as the Rose Standards. In essence, states are being beaten with their own weapons.

Kansas’ Solicitor General Stephen McAllister told justices during the equity hearing that there is not necessarily a correlation between test scores and funding and that “perfection” shouldn’t be the goal, a position the justices openly scoffed at.

“I don’t think you really should worry about the input if the output is doing well,” said McAllister.

Justice Dan Biles indicated that he may push to have the legislature provide more money only for those students whose academic struggles are significant, about a third of the state’s students.

Other State Action

The state also regularly cited a recent ruling out of Texas where its elected supreme-court justices said that while the state’s public school system was clearly in need of deep reform, it wasn’t the court’s role to tell the legislators how much they should spend on education.

Meanwhile, in Washington state, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, who is running for another term, said last week that his office has tried its hardest to respond to a state supreme court ruling there that ordered the state to provide millions more in funding. The court last year imposed a $100,000-a-day fine until the state’s school funding formula is overhauled.

The Washington state legislature, during its last session, approved a “plan for a plan” to have a new funding formula in place by next spring.

Educators have said that the governor and legislature have acted too slowly to respond to the ruling and last month asked the court to amp up its threats to get the state to move faster.

Last week, the state’s supreme court gave the state another legislative session to come up with a way to increase school employees’ salaries, a process that will likely require tax increases.

“If we design our lives based on wishes, yeah, I wished that we’d solved everything an hour after I took, you know, my oath of office in 2013,” Inslee said, according to The Seattle Times. “But these are challenging issues.”

Coverage of policy, government and politics, and systems leadership is supported in part a grant from by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, at www.broadfoundation.org. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.
A version of this article appeared in the October 12, 2016 edition of Education Week as Kan. Governor: Tax Hike Needed If State Loses Funding Case

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69ý
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Federal What a National School Choice Program Under President Trump Might Look Like
School choice advocates—and detractors—see a second Trump term as the biggest opportunity in decades for choice at the federal level.
8 min read
President Donald Trump listens during a "National Dialogue on Safely Reopening America's 69ý," event in the East Room of the White House, on July 7, 2020, in Washington.
President Donald Trump listens during a "National Dialogue on Safely Reopening America's 69ý," event in the East Room of the White House on July 7, 2020, in Washington. He returns to power with more momentum than ever behind policies that allow public dollars to pay for private school education.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal Trump's Education Secretary Pick Is Linda McMahon, Former WWE CEO
McMahon led the Small Business Administration in Trump's first term and is co-chair of the president-elect's transition team.
6 min read
Small Business Administration Administrator Linda McMahon speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, March 29, 2019.
Then-SBA Administrator Linda McMahon speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, March 29, 2019. Trump has tapped McMahon to serve as education secretary in his second term.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Federal What Could RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary Mean for School Vaccine Requirements?
The vaccine skeptic in line to lead the mammoth federal agency could influence schools' vaccine rules, even though they're set by states.
6 min read
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 in Walker, Mich.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks before President-elect Donald Trump at a campaign event on Sept. 27, 2024 in Walker, Mich. Trump has selected Kennedy to serve as secretary of health and human services in his second term.
Carlos Osorio/AP
Federal Can Trump Force 69ý to Change Their Curricula?
Trump's bid to take money from schools that teach "critical race theory" or pass policies for transgender kids raises legal complexities.
9 min read
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks on crime and safety during a campaign event at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Howell, Mich.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks on crime and safety during a campaign event at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office, Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Howell, Mich.
Evan Vucci/AP