Kan. colleges could suffer if public schools win funding case

Republican lawmakers in Kansas are warning that big cuts to higher education can be expected if the Kansas Supreme Court rules in favor of public schools in a funding lawsuit, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.

The state’s high court is expected to make a decision on the case by early 2014. Earlier this year, a three-judge panel ruled the state unconstitutionally cut funding and owes public schools more than $500 million per year. If the court upholds the panel’s mandate that funding for schools must be increased, Republican lawmakers are now putting higher educational institutions such as the University of Kansas on notice that their budgets would be significantly decreased.

In arguments before the court, an attorney representing Kansas’ school districts said lawmakers cut $511 million per year from schools at the same time they were implementing income tax cuts worth $2.5 billion through 2018.

Read more from the Lawrence Journal-World.