The Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission school districts believe that patrons have a First Amendment right to promote and support educational excellence, and that they are being treated unfairly under Kansas law. A funding mechanism built on a complex system of weightings results in districts receiving different amounts of revenue based on per pupil expenditures. Shawnee Mission and Blue Valley are among the lowest per-pupil operational spending school districts in the state.

“Our brief is about the ability of citizens to exercise First Amendment rights to opt to spend their own money to improve educational opportunities for their children,” said Dr. Jim Hinson, superintendent of Shawnee Mission. Echoed Dr. Tom Trigg, superintendent of Blue Valley, “The state has the responsibility of providing a suitable education through the funding formula. Our patrons tell us they want the option to provide students more than a suitable education; they want an exemplary education and want the option to support it by raising local funds. Parents have the fundamental right to have this option.”

These school districts argue to the Court of Appeals in the amicus brief that the Kansas cap on local option spending is unconstitutional because it violates equal protection rights and restricts their citizens’ First Amendment opportunity to spend their own money on education for their children. The brief argues that patrons should not be precluded from the opportunity to raise local funds to achieve at least revenue equality with the other Kansas districts. The current school finance law prohibits that outcome and the brief argues that the Kansas law cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny.