Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has filed notice that the State will appeal Friday’s ruling on school finance to the Kansas Supreme Court. Schmidt released the following statement:

“Today’s ruling has enormous consequences for the State of Kansas. We have filed notice that we will appeal the decision to the Kansas Supreme Court.”

The cost of Friday’s ruling by a panel of Shawnee County District Court judges could approach $500 million.

The three judges found that since 2009, the Legislature, along with governors Mark Parkinson and Sam Brownback, cut school spending in violation of the constitution. In a 250-page opinion, the Shawnee County District Court judges called the education cuts “an obvious and continuing pattern of disregard of constitutional funding.”

Governor Sam Brownback issued the following statement Friday:

“The ruling by the district court is disappointing but not unexpected given the Kansas Supreme Court’s previous ruling in the Montoy case in 2005. Through today’s ruling, the courts are drastically increasing the property tax burden on every Kansan. The Kansas Legislature, not the courts, has the power of the purse and has, in fact, increased total state funding for schools every year during my administration. The legislative process is the appropriate venue for debating and resolving issues of taxation and spending.”