State Representative Lonnie Clark, Junction City, is taking an optimistic view that the action by the Kansas Legislature to provide $534 million in additional funding for public schools will be enough to satisfy a Kansas Supreme Court mandate. The funding hike would be implemented over a five-year period.

Clark stated, “It’s close to what the courts wanted.”

He said there were discussions between the House Education Committee chairman Fred Patton and the ( state’s ) attorneys and they felt that the Court would be happy, or at least satisfied with what was done. “Time will tell, but we’re real confident that we’ve gotten things taken care of.”

The Kansas Supreme Court mandated that funding for K-12 public education be increased. It is expected to be some time before they issue their ruling on the effort by the Legislature.