by Seth Blomeley and Laura Kellams
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Friday, June 1, 2007
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday approved the state’s system of financing public schools, ending about five years of off-and-on court supervision that has frustrated legislators, educators and governors.
By its action, the court closed the long-running case known by the name of a school district that no longer exists: Lake View .
“We conclude that our system of public school financing is now in constitutional compliance,” the court said in an opinion written by Justice Robert L. Brown.
The court praised the Legislature and Gov. Mike Beebe for “making great progress” in education and complimented former justices appointed as “masters” to review legislative actions.
“This court, the people of Arkansas , and the generations to come are indebted to them for their commitment to education.”
Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel quickly organized a news conference to celebrate the end of the case, filed by the Lake View School District in 1992. The lawsuit led to a 2002 Supreme Court ruling that the state’s education funding system was unconstitutionally inadequate and inequitable.
“This is a historic day and one that all of us were hopeful we would see,” Beebe said. “This has been a long process. Anyone who thinks we’re through has missed the point. We’re not through. [Public school funding] is an ever-changing target that requires constant vigilance. I’m convinced the General Assembly is up to that task.”
The court noted that the special masters completed their report April 26 summing up legislative actions and that no objections were filed by school districts that have been parties in the case.
“We hold that the General Assembly has now taken the required and necessary legislative steps to assure that the school children of this state are provided an adequate education and substantially equal educational opportunity,” the court said.
It added, “To emphasize the unanimity of the court on this matter, each justice has affixed his or her signature at the end of this opinion.”
Usually, Supreme Court opinions list the author and any justice who dissents from the opinion or has issued a concurring opinion, but justices who agree with the opinion aren’t listed.
Les Steen, clerk of the court since 1987, said he doesn’t recall all seven justices signing an opinion during his tenure.
Beebe, a former attorney general, trial lawyer and state senator, said he doesn’t recall it, either.
David Matthews, the attorney for the Rogers School District who has worked on the case for more than a decade, said Thursday’s ruling marked the first time the court has ever declared the state’s education funding system in constitutional compliance.
The ruling may even be unique among the many states that have faced similar lawsuits, he said.
Matthews said the case is over and he doesn’t ever think it will be reopened.
“Now, I’ve said that two other times,” he admitted. “But I really don’t see that happening. I don’t see it being necessary.”
Matthews was disappointed in 2005 when lawmakers froze school funding, a decision that led to the second reopening of the Lake View case. The benefit of that experience is the Legislature now knows that it can’t backtrack and must constantly be evaluating whether it’s adequately funding education, he said.
Matthews praised Beebe, former Gov. Mike Huckabee and the Legislature but saved his highest compliments for the Supreme Court.
“They never once shirked their responsibility to hold the other branches of government accountable,” he said. “That’s the way the system is supposed to work. The handling of the Lake View case, in my opinion, has been the Supreme Court’s finest hour in our state.”
The court said it adopted the masters’ report and pointed out several of its findings:
Since the court ruled in 2005 that not enough was done for public school facilities, the Legislature in 2007 approved $631 million to help local districts build and update buildings. That funding included $456 million from the state’s expected surplus by the end of the current fiscal year.
Per-student “foundation” funding will increase from the current $5,662 to $5,789 in fiscal 2009.
Further per-student funding of $51 will be added for fiscal 2008 and $36 for fiscal 2009.
The Legislature increased per-student “growth” funding to the same level of the foundation amount. Such an increase was pushed by the Rogers district and other growing districts.
Per-student funding for children needing extra help in alternative-learning environments will be increased from $3,750 to $4,063.
Per-student funding for English language learners will increase from $195 to $293.
Funding to help educate students in poverty also will increase by varying amounts depending on the concentration of those students in a district.
The average teacher salary — $42,931 in fiscal 2006 — was the second among surrounding states and ninth among 16 southern states.
The court also noted that the Legislature understands that maintaining an adequate educational system is a continuous process.
Like Matthews, Beebe doubted the court would reopen the case as it did in 2004 and again in 2005.
“I’ll never try to predict what that court is going to do, but I would be shocked and surprised if they tried to reopen this case, but I’ve been shocked and surprised before,” Beebe said.
“I don’t think this is a time to say, ‘OK, we’ve done education, let’s move on to something else.’ Education and economic development are going to be the two cornerstones of what we do around here as long as I’m around here.”
Arkansas has 245 public school districts teaching about 450,000 students.
Four school districts were parties to the latest round in the case: Rogers , Little Rock , Pulaski County and Barton-Lexa, which annexed the Lake View district. The 2004 consolidation law forced the closure of Lake View because its enrollment fell below 350 students.
Of the attorneys for those four districts, three praised legislative achievements this session before the masters, former Justices Bradley Jesson and David Newbern.
The exception, Chris Heller of the Little Rock district, argued that the state needed to do more for low-income students and for districts such as Little Rock , which is eligible for only a small amount of state facilities aid.
Heller said he filed no objections with the Supreme Court concerning the masters’ report because, “I thought the masters thoroughly reviewed the issue. It seemed like it was time for this case to end and work with the General Assembly and the Department of Education on the issues we’re concerned about.”
Education funding was increased this year with the help of a record surplus and additional tax collections.
In this year’s session, Beebe proposed and the Legislature approved increasing state education spending $107 million, or 4.3 percent, in fiscal 2008, bringing total state education spending up to $2.57 billion. That will rise to $2.60 billion in fiscal 2009. A large portion of that increase entailed a $40 million-a-year increase for preschool programs.
Beebe said preschool is the best investment the state can make in improving student performance.
The state also was able to cut taxes, and Beebe has pledged to continue to do his best to further cut the state sales tax on groceries.
Beebe said education will continue to be the top priority and he would push for more tax cuts only if the state can afford it and still provide for necessary services.
Sen. Jim Argue, D-Little Rock, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said of Thursday’s ruling: “I think it’s a cause for celebration. This is the last chapter of this case, but ... there is still much work before us.”
Dan Marzoni of Fayetteville , president of the Arkansas Education Association, which pushed unsuccessfully for more money this session for teacher health insurance premiums, said he was glad the court was out of the case.
“But we’ll be working to make sure that good funding will stay there and be increased,” he said.
The court also cited efforts made to improve public school accounting and accountability measures to gauge the progress of students and schools.
The Department of Education is working with districts to improve their accounting but more work is left to be done toward that goal, Commissioner Ken James said.
Beebe noted that the state every two years must continue to follow the review of what makes an adequate education. That’s mandated in a law that was passed in 2004 and that the court noted Thursday as an example of the long-term commitment of the Legislature. The Legislature failed to follow this law before the 2005 session and was criticized for that by the court that year.
McDaniel, who was a state representative during the 2005 session, said there was “a little residual resentment” against the court that year among lawmakers.
But Beebe praised legislators, saying they avoided that way of thinking this year.
McDaniel said it was important for the state to focus on improving education and not just find a way to get out of court.
“We have done the right thing for the children of Arkansas ,” McDaniel said. “My daughter is in the first grade this upcoming fall, and I believe we have laid the groundwork for a world-class education for rich, poor, black, white, rural, urban, big schools, little schools. As a public official, as a lawyer, it doesn’t get any better than this.”
Education litigation timeline in Arkansas
1979 The Alma School District in Crawford County and 10 other school districts file a lawsuit over the school-funding formula.
1983 The Arkansas Supreme Court strikes down the state’s public school-funding formula, saying the state was wrongly funding “phantom” students, meaning some districts were getting money for students they didn’t have. The state later ended that practice.
1992 The tiny Lake View School District in Phillips County sues the state over gross disparities in funding public schools. Lake View argues that low-income districts have a diluted curricula, lower teacher pay, inferior buildings, and poorly equipped libraries and laboratories.
1994 Pulaski County Chancellor Annabelle Clinton Imber finds in favor of Lake View , ruling Arkansas ’ education system violates equity provisions of the state constitution.
1995 Gov. Jim Guy Tucker signs a bill to create a new schoolfunding system that sends money to districts equally on a per-student basis.
1996 Voters approve Amendment 74 to the state constitution, mandating at least 25 mills of property tax in each school district for maintenance and operation.
1998 Responding to amended complaints by Lake View , the state Supreme Court orders a new trial to determine if the state’s changes sufficiently satisfy Imber’s 1994 order.
2000 For 19 days in September and October, Pulaski County Chancellor Collins Kilgore conducts the Lake View trial at which 36 witnesses testify. The court record totals 20,878 pages.
2001 Kilgore, as Imber did seven years earlier, declares the school-funding system to be unconstitutionally inequitable. But he goes a step further and rules it to be inadequate and orders the state to fund a preschool program.
2002 The state Supreme Court, in a 7-0 opinion written by Justice Robert L. Brown, upholds most of Kilgore’s ruling. It notes that the state has the ultimate authority over schools. But it overrules Kilgore on preschool, saying there is no such constitutional mandate. The court gives the state until Jan. 1, 2004, to come up with a solution.
April 16, 2003 Most efforts to improve education, including former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s plan for school district consolidation, fail as the regular legislative session ends.
July 15, 2003 Educational consultants Allan Odden of the University of Wisconsin and Larry Picus of the University of Southern California, hired to perform a study to define an adequate education as required by the Supreme Court, recommend $847 million in additional education funding for increased teachers salaries, smaller classes and expanded preschool programs.
Dec. 8, 2003 The Legislature convenes in special session to take up education changes.
Jan. 2, 2004 With no significant action by the Legislature, Bill Lewellen, attorney for the Lake View district, files a motion with the Supreme Court to hold the state in contempt for failing to comply with the ruling.
Jan. 5, 2004 The court decides to consider the Lake View motion. Some question whether the court would do so, since its 2002 opinion said the case would be over Jan. 1, 2004, and only another lawsuit in lower court could reopen the issue.
Jan. 22, 2004 The court finds the state in “noncompliance” and retakes jurisdiction of the case. It decides to appoint court “masters” to evaluate actions of the Legislature and Huckabee.
Feb. 3, 2004 The court appoints former Justices Bradley Jesson of Fort Smith and David Newbern of Little Rock as masters.
Feb. 6, 2004 The Legislature wraps up the special session. It passes about $380 million a year in new taxes, a new funding formula that sends more money to districts with a higher percentage of low-income students, and a mandate to consolidate districts with fewer than 350 students. Huckabee, noting the failure of his more aggressive consolidation plan, calls legislative accomplishments “maximum taxes for minimum reform.”
April 2, 2004 Jesson and Newbern release their report calling many of the legislative acts “laudable” but adding that the state will likely continue to have inequities as along as districts are permitted to raise additional money locally.
May 20, 2004 Huckabee’s attorney, Leon Holmes, urges the court to keep control over the case and order more consolidation. The Lake View district asks for more money and a reversal of the Legislature’s consolidation law. The Little Rock district asks for more state money for preschool. Bentonville and Rogers districts ask the court to keep control of the case to make sure the Legislature follows through with improving schools facilities. Attorney General Mike Beebe’s office asks for the court to pull out of the case.
June 18, 2004 In a 4-3 decision, the court exits the case, citing separation-of-powers concerns and complimenting the state’s education changes.
Nov. 30, 2004 Consultants, having assessed the nearly 6,000 school buildings in Arkansas , announce a price tag of $2.3 billion in immediate needs. Legislators describe the figure as unrealistic.
April 13, 2005 The 2005 regular legislative session ends. Base funding for public schools was frozen. However, $104 million is set aside as state aid to improve public school facilities and $35 million to subsidize teacher health insurance.
April 15, 2005 David Matthews, the Rogers School District ’s attorney, asks the Supreme Court to reopen the case, arguing that lawmakers “reverted back to their old ways” and failed to follow the court’s mandate to adequately fund education.
June 9, 2005 In a 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court agrees to reopen the case, reappointing Jesson and Newbern to take testimony on legislative actions.
Oct. 3, 2005 Jesson and Newbern report that the state in the 2005 legislative session retreated from its responsibility to public schools, saying the evidence showed “the state has not lived up to its promise ... to make education the state’s first priority.”
Dec. 16, 2005 In a 5-2 decision, the Supreme Court again finds the state’s public school funding unconstitutional and gives the state until Dec. 1, 2006, to live up to its school-funding obligations.
April 5, 2006 The Legislature completes a week-long special session that provides another $138 million over two years for school operations, plus money for school facilities.
Nov. 17, 2006 Four school districts ask the court to postpone its decision on whether the state has achieved public school-funding adequacy until after the legislative session that begins Jan. 8, 2007.
Nov. 30, 2006 The day before the Dec. 1 deadline, the Supreme Court decides to retain jurisdiction for another 180 days to ascertain whether the state is operating a constitutionally funded public school system. The court appoints Jesson and Newbern to conduct the evaluation. As they have previously, dissenting justices in the 5-2 ruling say the court is overstepping its authority.
April 3, 2007 The regular legislative session draws to a close after lawmakers and Gov. Mike Beebe agree to raise per-student funding and to send more money to schools with declining enrollment, isolated schools and growing school districts. The Legislature approves spending $631 million in the next two years for the state’s share to build and renovate school facilities.
April 17, 2007 Attorneys for three of the plaintiff school districts praise the Legislature’s efforts, but an attorney for the Little Rock School District said the state’s procedure for determining facilities funding is unfair.
April 26, 2007 Jesson and Newbern report that the state now has in place the framework necessary to improve public education.
May 31, 2007 The Supreme Court closes the Lake View case, ruling that the Legislature has taken the necessary steps to assure an adequate and equitable education for the state’s schoolchildren. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
