Missouri House panel calls to up basic K-12 spending by $76M

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri's K-12 public schools would get about a $76 million increase in basic funding under the budget proposed by a House panel.

A House committee on Thursday scaled back a recommendation by Gov. Jay Nixon to increase funding by about $85 million.

Recommendations from both Nixon and the House panel still would leave schools underfunded in the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The Legislature would need to ramp up funding by more than $500 million to fully fund K-12 schools.