South
Dakota
In 1994, after the trial of an "equity" case,
"Bezdicheck v. State," CIV 91-209,
brought by school districts against the state, a South
Dakota Circuit Court declared the state’s education
finance system constitutional, despite acknowledged
funding disparities. The court held that the state constitution
requires school districts to provide an "adequate
education" but does not require equal per-pupil
spending, as plaintiffs had argued. Plaintiffs did not
appeal.
Recent Events
On June 22, 2006, a coalition of 59 South Dakota school
districts, and students and parents in those districts,
filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that the
state's education finance system fails to provide sufficient
resources for the state’s students to obtain “an
education that will equip them to function in society
as responsible citizens who can find productive employment,”
as required by the South Dakota Constitution.
Plaintiffs in South Dakota Coalition of Schools
v. State argue that a “free, adequate and
quality education” is a fundamental right under
the state constitution. Plaintiffs also contend that
the present education finance system bears “no
relationship to the actual costs of providing an adequate
education” or to the state’s own “academic
achievement and performance standards” and that
it must do so in order to be constitutionally sound.
A cost study commissioned by the coalition reported
that the state’s schools are under-funded by $133
to $400 million.
In May 2007, the state attorney general, requested
an audit of the coalition districts. He argued that
school districts did not have standing to sue the State
over the constitutionality of school funding, and that
school district funds could not be used to support such
litigation. Scott Abdallah, plaintiffs’ attorney,
wrote to the state’s auditor general, arguing
that the A.G. had requested an audit “of an alleged
violation of a law that does not exist, involving contributions
that are expressly authorized by statute.”
Trial has been scheduled for summer 2008.
Last updated: March, 2008
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