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A draconian piece of legislation introduced by Kansas Rep. Clay Aurand would strip the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools District of $19 million in equalization local option budget funding.

Aurand, a Republican from Courtland, Kan., introduced House Bill 2539 as a way to prevent school districts from suing the state.

With five cuts to education funding from the state and a sixth likely on the way later this spring, some school districts in the state have joined Schools for Fair Funding, a non-profit organization that looks to increase public education funding.

Schools for Fair Funding successfully sued the state, with the Kansas Supreme Court ruling that the state had to increase spending by $1 billion in phased-in mode.

Among them are three school districts in Wyandotte County – Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools, Turner School District and the Bonner Springs-Edwardsville School District.

The bill would strip any suing district of its state aid equalization fund generated by each district's local option budget.

For KCK Public Schools, the total would be around $19 million.

Obviously, the legislation ruffled a few feathers at Tuesday night's Kansas City, Kan., Board of Education meeting.

"This targets districts of low wealth and it's legislation we should all stand up and fight against," said Cynthia Lane, assistant superintendent. "It's unprecedented. Our neighbors wouldn't be harmed and our community should stand up and speak against this."

KCK Public Schools lobbyist Bill Reardon expressed doubt the bill would pass, but still showed some concern about it.

"I can't imagine the Kansas Legislation as a whole would engage in punitive damage like this," Reardon said. "But it's still something we're really concerned about."

The bill has no other sponsor and no action is planned for the bill.

Board President Gloria Willis encouraged everyone in the crowd to speak with Wyandotte County delegation members about the legislation.