"For
Sale" Sign on Rural Idaho In a decision issued October
27, 2003, an Idaho District Court declared unconstitutional a school funding
law enacted by the state legislature in May, saying the law amounts to putting
"a ‘for sale' sign on rural Idaho." The court also explained that the new law
has the practical effect of "amend[ing] the Idaho Constitution to remove the duty
it places on the legislature to create an adequate system of public school funding."
The new law, HB 402, established special procedures for one particular lawsuit
– the Idaho Schools for Equal Educational Opportunity
(ISEEO) v. Evans case. The law, if upheld, would require parents seeking
safe school buildings to sue their local school district instead of the State,
would authorize the legislature to sue the ISEEO plaintiff school districts, and
would require Idaho Courts to order enormous property taxes in these poor school
districts if unsafe building conditions were found. In 2001, after years
of litigation over dilapidated and unsafe schools, the District Court held that
the state system for financing school facilities was unconstitutional, specifically
because it relies exclusively on local property taxes for school construction
and renovation even though many districts lack adequate funding capacity. In 2002,
the court appointed a special master
to assess run-down school buildings across the state. Instead of enacting a remedy
to the state's failure to provide an adequate facilities funding system, the legislature
enacted HB 402. In its latest opinion, the District Court pointed out that
the school districts in question have low property wealth and low average per
capita income, but their voters tax themselves at higher than average rates in
an affort to provide their students the opportunity to reach state and federal
(NCLB) achievement standards. Some districts have had tremendous success, the
court reported, in raising student achievement through research-based
programs, such as "Success for All Reading and Everyday Math," despite crumbling
buildings. The court's decision may be appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court.
Prepared October 30, 2003 |
