(KAIR)--The education bill passed through the state legislature in the late night hours Sunday has left more than a few people unhappy.
When the State Supreme Court ruled last month that the state's current public school funding levels were unconstitutional and ordered legislators to bridge that gap, most agreed that it had to be done, but there was quite a bit of debate on how to make it happen.
Democratic State Representative Jerry Henry says there were some legislators who were looking past the funding issue to other education policies that had little, to nothing to do with funding. He says that legislative leaders “felt this was a good opportunity to get some education policies they have been trying to get rid of for some time, so they partnered the elimination of these policies, including the elimination of teacher tenure and due process, with the funding to help push the vote through.
Henry says it was the inclusion of these additional issues that factored in his decision to vote against the bill because he feels the legislators should have just addressed the school funding issue mandated by the Supreme Court. He says there's even a state constitutional amendment that says two issues cannot be put together in one bill. He says “this was an appropriations bill, and all of a sudden, policy is introduced into it”. Henry has filed a protest saying they have gone against the constitution by moving forward with this bill.
Henry says that even though the bill has passed both the House and Senate, it still must signed by Governor Sam Brownback to become law. He adds that even if it's signed, there could be some legal challenges in the coming years.
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