TOPEKA– The House Appropriations Committee’s chairman is pushing a school funding plan even though he acknowledges that he doesn’t much like it.
Rep. Ron Ryckman Jr. of Olathe told fellow House Republicans during a caucus Thursday that his goal is to prevent the Kansas Supreme Court from shutting down the state’s public schools.
The court ruled last month that the state has been shorting poor school districts on their fair share of state aid that now totals more than $4 billion annually. It gave lawmakers until June 30 to fix the problems.
Ryckman’s plan boosts overall spending on schools by about $21 million but redistributes other dollars to help poor districts. Seventy-nine of 286 school districts lose money.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee planned Thursday to debate its own plan.
