An advocate with the Kansas Association of School Boards remains optimistic that the ultimate result of the K-12 school finance adjustment negotiations will be close to what has been agreed upon by the Kansas Senate, Governor Laura Kelly and the Kansas Department of Education.

“We are optimistic because we think that is what has the best chance of resolving the case,” said Vice President for Advocacy with KASB, Mark Tallman. “The court, hopefully, would agree to that level and basically, kind of put us in a position over the next four years when the schools would have relative stable funding. The state would know its commitment.”

The amount and structure of the Senate plan would allow for districts to begin their planning.

“Hopefully, over that period of time, in our view, the real winners will be the students of Kansas and their families and ultimately employers in the whole state,” said Tallman. “If we do have a sustained period where we can put more funding into helping kids succeed, we can again get Kansas back up to where we were.”

The Legislature needs to make its decisions so that the Kansas Attorney General’s office can prepare briefs for the Kansas Supreme Court. Those are due April 15.