Here we go again.
As you may recall, two years ago a district court in Kansas ruled the state was not funding education at a level that is constitutional. Several school districts sued the state claiming their students had been given the shaft by lawmakers and the court agreed the state was not distributing a proper amount of funds to cover disadvantaged students.
Governor Sam Brownback and the state legislature responded to the court's ruling by converting their education funding system into a block-grant system that actually left some districts in a deeper hole than they were already in. We all watched in amazement as some school districts were forced to close for the year early because they couldn't afford to stay open.
The lower district court's decision has how been affirmed by the Kansas State Supreme Court but Governor Brownback is not going down without another fight.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt filed a notice to appeal the decision on Friday. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) said the decision was a violation of the court’s constitutional authority. [...]
“Kansas has among the best schools in the nation and an activist Kansas Supreme court is threatening to shut them down,” Brownback stated after the decision. “We will review this decision closely and work with the Legislature to ensure the continued success of our great Kansas schools.”
Why would the governor fight so furiously for the right to bankrupt the state's schools? Because coming up with the money to adequately fund every school district will require revenue that Brownback's economic regime has starved from the beast.
Brownback has emptied the state's coffers with his "pro-growth" policies and delivered the proceeds to wealthy business owners who no longer have to pay taxes on their business. In the name of Free Market Jesus, amen.
Brownback's claim that the state supreme court has overstepped their constitutional authority is rich coming from a man who threatened to defund the entire state judiciary if they didn't rule in his favor and agree that he can jeopardize the futures of an entire generation of students.