Alaska School Funding Lawsuit Moves Forward

On August 18, 2005, Judge Sharon Gleason of State Superior Court issued an order denying the defendant State of Alaska's Motion to Dismiss the Moore v. State school funding “adequacy” case. One year after a group of parents and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging that the state's education funding system violates the state constitution's education clause, the court agreed with plaintiffs that the questions they raise are “justiciable,” that is, subject to judicial review.

The Court's Order

In its Motion to Dismiss, the state argued that the state constitution commits the issue of education to the legislative branch. However, the court, quoting Alaska Supreme Court precedent, concluded that “[u]nder Alaska's constitutional structure of government, the judicial branch . . . has the constitutionally mandated duty to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Alaska Constitution, including compliance by the legislature.” The court also noted that under the separation of powers doctrine, the judicial branch “cannot defer to the legislature when infringement of a constitutional right results from legislative action,” again citing the Alaska Supreme Court.

The state also claimed that there are no “judicially discoverable and manageable standards for resolving” the education clause issue. Unconvinced by this argument, the court observed that the scope of the constitutional right to an education “will be the subject of future proceedings in this action” and that any difficulties in defining that scope and assessing compliance with it should not preclude the court from undertaking its constitutional responsibility to insure that the right is being afforded to the state's children. “To say otherwise would have the effect of eliminating the education provision from our constitution,” said the court, quoting the Florida Supreme Court and citing school funding cases in other states' supreme courts.

Moore v. State charges that the current school finance system violates Alaska's constitution for two reasons:

The state does not invest enough money in its schools to provide an adequate education for all students; and

The money the state provides is distributed unfairly.

More specifically, the plaintiffs' Complaint claims that inadequate funding results in:

high teacher turnover;

many schools that are unable to offer high school math and science;

high percentages of schools without counselors, nurses, and social workers; and

many schools lacking textbooks, libraries, and teaching supplies.

Plaintiffs also assert that the schools educating the most low-income and minority children are the ones with the greatest resource deficits, and that these deficits cause the students in these schools to score below minimum standards of achievement.

Alaska Constitution's Education Clause

The Alaska Constitution's education clause reads:

The legislature shall by general law establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the State, and may provide for other public educational institutions. Schools and institutions so established shall be free from sectarian control. No money shall be paid from public funds for the direct benefit of any religious or other private educational institution.

We will continue to follow and report on this case as it proceeds through the legal process.

Prepared by Molly A. Hunter, August 23, 2005