Four Kansas school districts plan legal action against state for underfunding public education

TOPEKA — Four Johnson County public school districts want to sue the state of Kansas for more than 15 years of inadequate special education funding.

The districts formed the Kansas Public School Funding Coalition and are seeking legal counsel, they announced in a Wednesday press release. The coalition aims to secure adequate general and special education funding for every Kansas public school.

“Despite longstanding legal requirements, the Legislature and state elected officials have consistently and deliberately chosen to shift those costs onto school districts and local taxpayers rather than fulfill their legal obligation,”the districts said..

Blue Valley Schools, De Soto School District, Olathe Public Schools and Shawnee Mission School District say they have been pulling resources from other areas of their schools, including general education classrooms, staff pay and staff retention, to cover the underfunding.

“Participating districts have exhausted every opportunity to work collaboratively with the Legislature and state elected officials to resolve this issue, including meeting individually with lawmakers, providing written and in-person testimony, and engaging through established advocacy channels,” the release said.

The U.S. Department of Education recently investigated two districts in the coalition, Olathe and Shawnee Mission, after a rightwing organization complained about their gender-inclusive policies. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach supported the complaint. The department threatened in April to revoke federal funding if the districts didn’t change their policies.