Kelly signs Kansas public school funding bill into law

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Laura Kelly has signed legislation to increase public school funding a day after Kansas lawmakers approved the plan.

Kelly, a Democrat, signed the bill at a ceremony Saturday, saying she was following through on a campaign promise to be the state’s “education governor” and to try to end a protracted education funding lawsuit.

The bill was a measure pushed by Kelly in hopes of satisfying a court mandate for more school funding. The bill ties Kelly’s proposal to increase spending on public schools by roughly $90 million to several education policy changes favored by GOP lawmakers.

Four school districts sued the state over education funding in 2010. The Kansas Supreme Court said in an order last year that a 2018 law promising additional funding increases wasn’t sufficient because it hadn’t accounted for inflation.

An obligation to finance a suitable education for every Kansas child is written into the state’s constitution.