Question of the Month
November
2004
Which
states have not been challenged on their education funding formulas?
Only seven U.S. states — including Indiana
and Iowa in the Midwest — have never had a court decide a
case challenging their education finance systems. A 1987 Indiana case
was withdrawn after the state developed a new funding formula. In
2002, Iowa became the 45th state where plaintiffs filed a case
contesting a state’s financing of schools. The trial is scheduled to
begin this month. At issue is a 1998 infrastructure funding statute
that some allege is in violation of the Iowa Constitution for creating
significant disparities between districts and for failing to provide
adequate education resources in many schools.
In the remaining Midwestern states,
plaintiffs have been victorious in Kansas (although the state
has appealed to the state Supreme Court; see the article on page 4 for
details), North Dakota and Ohio. The state has won
school funding lawsuits in Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska,
South Dakota and Wisconsin. Nebraska is once
again facing challenges to its method of funding schools. Urban and
rural districts have filed separate, but complementary, lawsuits
challenging the adequacy of Nebraska’s education finance system.
In November 2003, several North Dakota
school districts and parents filed a lawsuit claiming that the
education finance system violates the state constitution and infringes
on due-process rights. The plaintiffs cite the current funding method’s
heavy reliance on local property taxes and its inadequate use of
equalization formulas when distributing state education dollars. The
suit also points to a recent "costing-out" study prepared
for the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. Costing-out
studies determine the actual amount of money needed to provide every
child with a reasonable opportunity to meet state education standards.
The study found that North Dakota’s school funding formula is
inadequate. Over the past few years, costing-out studies have also
been done in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and
Wisconsin. While most have been initiated by the states themselves,
studies in Nebraska and Wisconsin were undertaken by others. Ohio has
completed two state-initiated studies (the latest on the costs of
implementing the No Child Left Behind Act), while two others also have
been done — one ordered by the courts and another prepared by an
education organization.
For
more information on this or any other public policy issue, please call
630-925-1922 or complete the online
form for research services.
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