Kansas faces skeptical state Supreme Court on school funding
Court Watch
Attorneys for Kansas will try to convince an often skeptical state Supreme Court on Tuesday that the funding increase legislators approved for public schools this year is enough to provide a suitable education for kids statewide.
The high court is hearing arguments about a new law that phases in a $293 million increase in education funding over two years. The justices ruled in March that the $4 billion a year in aid the state then provided to its 286 school districts was inadequate, the latest in a string of decisions favoring four school districts that sued Kansas in 2010.
The state argues that the increase is sizable and that new dollars are targeted toward helping the under-performing students identified as a particular concern in the court's last decision.
But lawyers for the Dodge City, Hutchinson, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas, school districts argue that lawmakers fell at least $600 million short of adequately funding schools over two years. They also question whether the state can sustain the spending promised by the new law, even with an income tax increase enacted this year.
The court has ruled previously that the state constitution requires legislators to finance a suitable education for every child. In past hearings, justices have aggressively questioned attorneys on both sides but have not been shy about challenging the state's arguments.
The court is expected to rule quickly. Attorneys for the districts want the justices to declare that the new law isn't adequate and order lawmakers to fix it by Sept. 1 — only a few weeks after the start of the new school year.
Related listings
-
Brother of victim in unsolved Ohio massacre appears in court
Court Watch 05/19/2017The brother of one of eight victims of an unsolved southern Ohio massacre has appeared in court for a hearing on evidence-tampering and vandalism charges over allegations he destroyed a GPS tracking device. Forty-year-old James Manley, of Peebles, ap...
-
Kyrgyz court confirms life sentence for journalist
Court Watch 01/24/2017A court in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday upheld a life sentence for an ethnic Uzbek journalist in a case that has drawn international criticism. Azimzhan Askarov was convicted in 2010 for stirring up ethnic hatred, a charge related to ethnic unrest in the so...
-
Court rules against CarMax in fight over vehicle inspections
Court Watch 10/31/2016A federal appeals court in San Francisco says used car retailer CarMax must tell buyers in California the condition of individual vehicle components it inspects. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday CarMax's practice of providing buyer...
East Greenwich, RI Family Law Office
The Law Office of Erica S. Janton offers a wide range of legal services in all areas of family law, encompassing divorce, paternity, adoption, child support, child custody and placement, post judgment modifications, mediation and other related issues.
Erica S. Janton has extensive experience in complex high asset and high conflict family law matters. For the last decade, Erica S. Janton has devoted her career to the family law, first as a mediator and then in her legal career as a family law attorney and mediator. Attorney Janton represents a large variety of clients and has earned a well-regarded reputation for resolving complex custody and high asset, high conflict divorce cases. When providing clients with representation as an attorney, she is a compassionate and staunch advocate who ensures that her clients are well informed of their options and the related process, and prepared for every possible scenario a client may encounter.
Erica S. Janton has extensive experience in complex high asset and high conflict family law matters and uses her experience within the family court arena to individually tailor strategies with each of her clients and provide realistic solution focused results.