Kansas Senate Passes School Finance Measure

The Kansas Senate has approved a bill that would phase in an increase in spending on public schools of roughly $230 million over two years.

The vote Wednesday was 23-16. The measure goes next to the House, but the House has its own plan to phase in a $285 million increase over two years. Negotiators for the two chambers are likely to draft a compromise.

Legislators are responding to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling in March that education funding is inadequate. The state spends about $4 billion a year on aid to its 286 local school districts.

Top Republicans believe either plan would satisfy the court, but attorneys for the four districts that successfully sued the state have said both are far short of what’s necessary