School Districts Plan to Sue State

December 14, 2009

The California School Board Association is planning to sue the state because the decreasing amount of educational funding doesn’t match up to the high standards school districts are held to.

Redlands Unified School District Board of Education member Pat Kohlmeier mentioned the pending lawsuit during the board’s meeting Dec. 8.

Kohlmeier – who serves on the CSBA Board of Directors – said she attended the CSBA annual education conference in San Diego between Dec. 3 and 5.

"One of the topics, again, was an inadequacy lawsuit," Kohlmeier said. "CSBA is working with (the Association of California School Administrators) and with some plaintiff school districts which are yet to be determined to file a lawsuit against the state of California maintaining that the level of funding provided by the state to school districts is not adequate to fulfill the standards and educational programs that are mandated by the state."

The CSBA has developed the lawsuit over the last year, she said.

The RUSD has felt the sting of disappearing state education funding. The district has cut $27.88 million since the 2007-2008 school year and more cuts are on the way in January.

The California Constitution requires the legislature "to provide for a system of common schools by which a free school shall be kept up and supported." The suit will allege that the state violates that provision by not ensuring adequate support.

Given its low ranking in spending and recent cuts, "nobody can rationally assert that the system is adequately supported," said Scott Plotkin, CSBA executive director.

"As the economic situation in California continues to get worse before it gets better, we know that education will be on the cutting table again," Plotkin said. "This will be a further argument in favor of a lawsuit that will prove that the funding system for schools is irrational, unconstitutional and will hopefully create leverage for a fundamental restructuring of the system."

An extensive Stanford-led study two years ago suggested that California needed to increase funding by as much as 56 percent, or $32 billion in 2007 dollars.

CSBA Public Information Officer Brittany McKanney said the lawsuit has not yet been filed. In October, Plotkin said the CSBA would file the suit near theof the year. On Dec. 8, Kohlmeier said the CSBA would likely file the suit no later than February.

"We have some law firms who have agreed to provide some pro-bono services for some of the plaintiff school districts, or to help with discovery costs and those kinds of things," Kohlmeier said.

But the CSBA’s lawsuit won’t magically turn things around for California schools.

"That won’t be the answer in and of itself," she said. "It’s a kind of two-pronged approach. The court will have to declare whether or not what the state is doing is constitutional. There’s absolutely no correlation between what’s expected of school districts and the funding. They are totally disconnected."