Kansas Supreme Court: Cuts to poor school districts unconstitutional

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas must spend more money on its public schools, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday in a decision that could jeopardize Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's desire to make his state a tax-cutting template for the nation.

The high court's ruling, which found that Kansas' school funding isn't constitutional, came in a 2010 lawsuit filed by parents and school districts. Instead of balking, Brownback and other leaders of the state's GOP-dominated government said they were pleased because the decision stopped short of telling legislators exactly how much the state must spend on its schools overall, leaving that responsibility to a lower court.

Education advocates and attorneys for the parents and school districts saw the decision as a rebuke to the GOP-led state and in line with past court decisions that strongly and specifically laid out how much needed to be allocated to provide adequate education for every child.

"This decision is an important one in sending a message to states across the nation that need to reform their financing systems to get their house in order," said David Sciarra, executive director of the Newark, N.J.-based Education Law Center, which filed a brief in the Kansas case.

The case has broader implications beyond the classroom: Kansas enacted sweeping cuts to income taxes in 2012 and 2013 championed by Brownback that have reduced the amount of available resources to comply with a court order on education funding

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Fuck you Sam. You're the very illustration of a 'whited sepulcher"