Kan. Senate committee, House GOP continue talks on school funding

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The House Appropriations Committee’s leader has abandoned his own school funding plans after hearing a chorus of criticism from fellow Republicans.

Chairman Ron Ryckman Jr. of Olathe decided against having the committee vote on his plan Thursday after an hour of discussion.

Ryckman said his plan was aimed at preventing 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 state aid and gave lawmakers until June 30 to fix the problems.

Ryckman’s plan boosted overall spending on schools by about $21 million but redistributed other dollars to help poor districts. Seventy-nine of 286 school districts would have lost money.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee planned to debate a rival plan Thursday.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — 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.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Senate committee and Republicans in the state House are preparing to discuss proposals for reallocating state education dollars to help poor school districts.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee was meeting Thursday to debate a plan from Chairman Ty Masterson. The Andover Republican’s bill would redistribute $39 million in aid for the 2016-17 school year.

House Republicans were caucusing to discuss a rival plan from Appropriations Committee Chairman Ron Ryckman Jr. The Olathe Republican’s bill boosts state spending to help poor school districts but still redistributes some dollars.

Both plans are responses to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling last month. The court said the state has been shorting poor school districts on their fair share state aid that now totals more than $4 billion annually.