House members have approved a fourth year of
the current school finance package, sending the bill back to the
Senate for review.

The bill would give public school districts a $37.2 million
funding increase in 2009. It passed Tuesday by a 96-29 margin, but
without support from most Johnson County legislators.

The Senate already had approved the funding increase as an
attempt to secure money for a fourth year of the school funding
plan passed in 2006.

Legislators approved that plan to satisfy a Kansas Supreme Court
ruling that said the state wasn't meeting its constitutional
mandate to properly fund public schools.

School districts would receive an extra $59 per student for the
2009-2010 school year.