Last week we updated you on the status of legislation to set a timeline for state compliance with the McCleary ruling (which dealt with state funding for K-12 basic education).

The Senate Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on the Senate bill earlier this week. In public testimony, several education groups were concerned about moving the date of compliance from 2017 to 2018. Committee members have until next Tuesday, Feb. 9 (the deadline for Senate fiscal bills to pass out of committee) to approve the bill. During that vote, as well as the subsequent vote on the Senate floor, we'll see more robust debate on both sides.

One aspect of this legislation we neglected to mention is a change to both the House and Senate versions of the McCleary bill. The House version tweaked language about making sure there is adequate physical space for the already-funded K-3 class-size reductions, so as not to include specific reference to "classroom facilities" and "school construction," while the Senate version removed it. Why? Well, school construction is funded by the state capital budget, not the operating budget, and it appears some lawmakers are concerned that a reference to construction could open the door for the Supreme Court to start issuing mandates on capital budget expenditures.