|
Georgia
Recent Events
Historical Background
More than two decades ago, a Georgia trial court had
found the state's system of financing public education
unconstitutional, but the state supreme court upheld
the system in McDaniel v. Thomas, 285 S.E. 2d 156 (Ga.
1981). The trial court found that "The inequalities
in the school finance system deny students in property
poor districts equal educational opportunities."
The supreme court agreed that the trial court's factual
findings were "unassailable." However, it
ruled in this "equity" suit on the equal protection
claim that the system "does bear some rational
relationship to legitimate state purposes and is therefore
not violative of state equal protection."
Recent Events
In September of 2004, the Consortium for Adequate School
Funding in Georgia (CASFG), a coalition of 51 of Georgia's
180 school districts, filed an "adequacy"
lawsuit, claiming that the state's school funding system
violates the education provision of the state constitution.
The trial court denied the state's motion to dismiss,
and the Georgia Supreme Court refused to hear the state's
appeal.
A pre-trial hearing was held in the case in 2006. As
an Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial reported,
attorneys for the state argued that the responsibility
for educating children and the responsibility for funding
that education lies with local school boards, and that
the state cannot be held responsible for what they described
as local governments’ refusal to increase local
taxes.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that relying on
local taxes for education funding is unfair and inequitable,
and that the Georgia Constitution holds the state responsible
for providing its residents with an adequate education.
Although courts in school funding adequacy cases routinely
determine the constitutional definition of an adequate
education, attorneys for the state also told the court
that, even if the state is responsible for providing
an adequate education, trying to define it would lead
the court into a quagmire, the Journal-Constitution
editorial reported.
The Consortium for Adequate School Funding
issued recommendations for a settlement with the state
on October 10, 2006, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
The governor’s office, however, cautioned that
a settlement is “not imminent.”
On September 16, 2008, The Consortium
for Adequate School Funding withdraw its lawsuit in
the Fulton County Superior Court, stating that it will
take other actions, including the filing of a new lawsuit
in another court in Georgia. The withdrawl came soon
after it was announced that the case was being transferred
from Judge Elizabeth Long to Judge Craig L. Schwall.
Last Updated, September 2008
| 
