T
OPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A top Kansas education official and a school superintendent are preparing to testify in a state district court hearing on a new school funding law.
Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis was expected to face questions Friday in Shawnee County District Court from attorneys for four school districts suing the state over education funding.
The Dodge City, Hutchinson, Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas, districts are asking a three-judge panel to block the new law.
Their attorneys said Hutchinson Superintendent Shelly Kiblinger also would testify.
The new law took effect in April. It scrapped the state’s per-pupil formula for distributing aid to public school districts in favor of predictable “block grants.”
The state contends the changes provide stability. Critics question whether the state is providing a suitable education to every child.