Dive Brief:

• The Kansas House and Senate passed a school finance bill Sunday, which will spend $126M to fund inequities between rich and poor districts. 
• The passed bill also folded in a number of contentious education reforms which advocate for school choice and eliminate teacher due process rights.
• The bill was created in reaction to a state Supreme Court ruling, which said the current school funding system was inequitable and violated the state’s constitution. 

Dive Insight:

Fixing an inequitable funding system was a must for these lawmakers; the state Supreme Court said they had until July to come up with a new plan or else the court would step in and create its own procedure. 

School funding and finding equitable ways to make it count for the districts that need it most seems to be a focus in many states right now.  Illinois just released its School Funding Reform Act proposal, which aims to give poorer districts more funding.  The New Jersey Senate is currently questioning Gov. Christie’s standing Education Chief on the state’s lack of equitable funding. 

Making sure districts with low tax bases are getting their share, if not more, of the state’s education funds is important if we ultimately want to give all students a fair shot and opportunity.  As we tell children: fair is not always equal, and so to be fair we sometimes have to pay disparate districts unequal funds.  

Some, however, are not so pleased with the new legislation, which tacked on a number of conservative ed reforms. Hundreds of teachers showed up at the capitol to protest sections of the bill on due process.  Despite their noticeable presence the bill still passed with the added reforms.  Under the new legislation terminated teachers can no longer request a hearing.