Editorial Urges NY Lawmakers to Follow Kansas Model

In an editorial published on Wednesday, the Democrat and Chronicle urged New York lawmakers to comply with a court mandate to increase funding for public schools, as legislators in Kansas did last week "If Kansas can summon the will and intelligence to act for the public good without employing delay-tactic legal maneuvers, then New York can, too," wrote the paper.

Read the full editorial, "The Kansas Model"

In a stern June 3 ruling, the Kansas Supreme Court gave state legislators one month, until July 1, to provide an additional $143 million to the state's education budget. The court threatened to freeze school funding and shut down schools if the legislature failed to comply. Governor Sebelius convened a special session to address the order, but by the July 1 deadline, lawmakers remained in deadlock. In response to the state's non-compliance, the court scheduled a hearing for July 8, and reiterated its warning to impose a school shutdown. The legislature responded by passing a $148.4 million school-finance plan 36 hours before the hearing. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled last Friday that the state legislature effectively met the court's mandate.

In the CFE case in New York, which has had a similar legal trajectory to the Kansas case, the governor and legislature continue to defy a mandate from the state's highest court to reform its unconstitutional education funding system. "The better approach is Kansas': hammer out a deal now to defuse a constitutional crisis," urged the Democrat and Chronicle. "Instead of fighting fruitlessly, Kansas lawmakers, pressured by its highest court, chose to negotiate."

July 13, 2005