I’m going to guess they base this on a state constitutional requirement for everyone to be afforded an education
Correct.
In an ironic twist, we taxpayers in Kansas get to pay for attorneys and consultants to do studies on behalf of the school districts (which don’t have to itemize their budgets and presumably could spend their entire budget on this lobbying activity)...and they go to the unelected court to circumvent the will of we the people.
Awesome, isn’t it - we pay to force the legislature to tax us more.