Nebraska Court Dismisses “Adequacy” Case, Plaintiffs Will Appeal

In October, Judge John Colborn of the Nebraska State District Court of Lancaster County granted the state's motion to dismiss a school funding lawsuit filed in August 2004 by a coalition of 34 rural school districts and various individuals, Nebraska Coalition for Educational Equity and Adequacy (NCEEA) v. Johanns. Plaintiffs have said they will ask for an expedited appeal in the Nebraska Supreme Court.

As reported in the Omaha World-Herald, the State Attorney General said the dismissal was important for Nebraska taxpayers and hopes the school districts will take their concerns to the legislature. Leaders of the rural coalition countered that they have been communicating with the legislature but claim that they have been ignored.

The NCEEA “adequacy” case alleged that school districts are unable to offer the adequate education guaranteed to the state's students by the Nebraska constitution because the state's education finance system provides insufficient funding. Plaintiffs claim that the rural schools cannot attract and retain qualified teachers or provide other essentials so their students can reach state standards, all due to lack of funds.

Similar Case

A coalition that includes Omaha Public Schools and other urban school districts filed a similar case – Douglas County School District v. Johanns – in the State District Court of Douglas County in 2003. In May 2004, the Douglas County court dismissed the adequacy claims in that case, but denied the state's motion to dismiss “equity” claims that were also alleged. The parties are preparing for trial on the equity issues; the trial is scheduled to begin in September 2007.

Appeal

Judge Colborn's short decision in the NCEEA case concurred with and adopted the findings and conclusions of the May 2004 Douglas County decision on the adequacy claims. Thus, both courts held that the adequacy claims “are non-justiciable political questions,” and the NCEEA appeal to the supreme court will decide this issue for both cases.

One of the attorneys representing the Douglas County plaintiffs, Elizabeth Eynon-Kokrda, said, "The urban school districts will certainly be filing an amicus brief on this issue. . . . We are pleased that  Nebraska's Supreme Court will have an opportunity to resolve this issue prior to the trial of the urban schools' funding suit."  

Prepared by Molly A. Hunter, October 20, 2005