The Kansas Supreme Court has been asked to stay a ruling regarding school finance and compel mediation instead, according to a recent press release out of Topeka.  This past Thursday, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback requested the stay in response to a lawsuit filed by parents and school districts stating that the lower court’s ruling was unconstitutional and that promises made by the state were not being upheld in budgetary hearings for the upcoming 2013-2014 school year.  

According to the lawsuit, the state had agreed to increase funding for Kansas schools by more than $440 million—an amount that is yet to be seen by the school districts and students within them.  However, according to Brownback, it was the state legislature’s responsibility to set the amount of funding that would be applied toward schools.  In a statement to the press, Brownback said, "It is my hope that through staying the decision and allowing all interested parties to give input on how to best fund our schools and get more money into the classroom, our state will maintain its reputation of having great schools and great educational opportunities for our children."

The attorney representing the school districts and concerned parents who filed the lawsuit, Alan Rupe, was happy with the statement that the state was ready to enter into mediation talks and reach a satisfactory resolution. However, he is cautious in his hopes. "It depends on what the state proposes," Rupe said. "If the state is truly interested in the public school kids of Kansas and not just buying time and not stepping up to the plate to pay for adequate education, it's not going to get resolved."

According to 2005 and 2006 Supreme Court decisions, it is the responsibility and Constitutional obligation of state legislatures to provide monetary resources for the suitable education of every child within the state, even if such responsibility called for a growing budget each year.  However, after the financial crisis that hit the country in 2008, many states reneged on early promises they had made regarding budgets.  Kansas was one of them. 

According to Kansas Senate President Jeff King, “I think it's a great idea to make sure the two sides are talking together, to make sure both sides know the position of the other, to see if there's any middle ground to resolve it from a policy perspective instead of from the litigation perspective."