GOP lawmakers signal desire to overhaul Kansas’ schools

TOPEKA – Conservative Republican legislators are preparing to push for huge changes in Kansas’ education system.

And other lawmakers warned Tuesday that a coming debate over funding could center on proposals they see as hostile to public K-12 schools.

Proposal under consideration include dropping standardized testing for students, turning over some school services to private companies and forgoing federal dollars to avoid federal education requirements.

A joint legislative committee set up to study what students should be learning and the best way to fund schools met briefly Tuesday to review a draft report from its Republican chairman.

The report calls for overhauling how the state distributes more than $4 billion in aid annually to its 286 local school districts.

The committee tabled the report until at least later this month.

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 12:59 PM with the headline "GOP lawmakers signal desire to overhaul Kansas’ schools."