Kansas lawmakers are still at odds over how and whether to comply with a court order to fix public school funding. Two legislative committees wrapped up meetings on Friday but didn’t come up with any concrete recommendations on how to respond to the court ruling.
Democratic Rep. Jim Ward says he's disappointed.
“The frustrating part is that I thought for a while there we actually were going to make some recommendations that would give the Legislature a focus when we came back next week,” Ward says.
Lawmakers return to Topeka next week for a special session focused on education funding. Even though the committees didn’t produce specific recommendations, Republican Rep. Erin Davis says they still made progress.
“For us to know where the hiccups are going to be today, a week prior to the special session starting, gives us that opportunity to begin working those kinks out,” Davis says.
Lawmakers disagree on whether to add additional funding for schools and whether they should try to hold all districts harmless, so they don't lose any current funding. The Kansas Supreme Court says lawmakers must reduce funding disparities among schools by the end of the month or schools could be closed.
