The Kansas Supreme Court announced Friday morning their decision on Gannon v. State of Kansas.  The lawsuit was originally filed in 2010 by parents and school districts after the state cut funding to schools back to 2005 levels of funding.   Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and Attorney General Derek Schmidt will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon to discuss the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling on the Gannon vs. State of Kansas,  The lawsuit asserted lack of adequate funding for education in the state was unconstitutional. 
In 2005, after six years of lawsuits and legislative debate over the Montoy v. State of Kansas, the state reluctantly agreed to increase funding of education by $3.5 million over three years, as ordered by the Kansas Supreme Court to a level determined “adequate” by the courts.  Then, the 2008 recession hit, and the legislature began cutting funding again, which led to the 2010 Gannon lawsuit.  

A live link to the press conference can be found by clicking on the appropriate links at https://governor.ks.gov/media-room/media-releases/2014/03/07/governor-brownback-press-conference-on-gannon-v.-kansas-live-streaming-links .
In 2006, the legislature established a figure of $4,492 base state aid per pupil as adequate.  The state would need to increase funding by $466 million, and reached that level over the next three years.  But in 2010, the education budget was slashed by $511 million to $3,838 per student, erasing all gains and dropping funding back to the 2005 level.  Since then, funding has hovered beneath the $4,000 level, despite the end of the recession.  In 2012, rather than restore funding to adequate levels, Governor Sam Brownback proposed and won a massive reduction in state income tax which he promised would jump start the Kansas economy.  With this decision, the outcome will affect more than education.  The governor issued this statement Friday morning:
“This is a complex decision that requires thoughtful review. I will have a briefing with the Attorney General and will hold a press conference later today. I will work with leadership in the Kansas Senate and House to determine a path forward that honors our tradition of providing a quality education to every child and that keeps our schools open, our teachers teaching and our students learning.”
Gov. Sam Brownback issued a statement Thursday ahead of the ruling.
“I have repeatedly stated and believe funding schools is the most important thing state government does,” Brownback said. “The centerpiece of my agenda for the 2014 legislative session is to increase Kansas’s investment in all-day Kindergarten, which is long overdue and a true path forward.”
The Democrat challenging Brownback in this fall’s gubernatorial election, House Minority Leader Paul Davis, also looked ahead to the court’s decision.
“Kansas parents, kids, teachers and business leaders don’t need a court order to tell us to fund our schools,” Davis wrote in his statement. “Providing our kids with a world class public education is both a moral and constitutional obligation, which is why I offered a plan two years ago to restore school funding. Governor Brownback rejected it, causing class sizes to grow and fees on parents to increase. This discussion is long overdue.”

A live link to the press conference can be found by clicking on the appropriate links at https://governor.ks.gov/media-room/media-releases/2014/03/07/governor-brownback-press-conference-on-gannon-v.-kansas-live-streaming-links .