Judge Orders Kansas' Public Schools Closed (Activist Judge Alert)

AP ^ | 05/11/04 | AP

[ILBBACH]

Judge Orders Kansas' Public Schools Closed

POSTED: 11:08 am CDT May 11, 2004 UPDATED: 12:48 pm CDT May 11, 2004

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The state must close its public schools this fall while it fixes constitutional flaws in its system for distributing aid to those schools, a district judge ruled Tuesday in a case that is already under appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court.

The order issued by Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock anticipates he will soon issue a follow up restraining order preventing the spending of any money after June 30. That means the Tuesday's order will not affect the current academic year.

Dan Biles, an attorney for the State Board of Education, said an appeal of Tuesday's order will be filed quickly, and could stay Bullock's order past the start of the new school year.

"This action by the court will terminate all spending functions under the unconstitutional funding provisions, effectively putting our school system on 'pause' until the unconstitutional funding defects are remedied by the legislative and executive branches of our government," Bullock wrote in Tuesday's order.

He continued: "Although this action may delay our children's education slightly (should the other branches fail to respond quickly), it will end the inadequate and inequitable education being provided now and the disparate damage presently being done to the most vulnerable of our children."

The order was quickly dismissed by Republican legislative leaders, who had already said they planned to pay it little heed, given that the case is already on appeal to the Supreme Court.

"It's ridiculous," said House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka.

Whitney Watson, a spokesman for Attorney General Phill Kline, who filed the appeal to the state's highest court, said the office is reviewing the ruling and planned to announce a response at 2 p.m.

Bullock's decision came just three days after legislators adjourned the 2004 session without acting on his December order to fix state's school finance system, which he found to be unconstitutional.

Bullock issued that preliminary ruling in a 1999 lawsuit brought by parents and administrators in the Dodge City and Salina school districts. He concluded that state's system for distributing $2.77 billion in aid is unconstitutional partly because of how it distributes money to programs for poor and minority students.

He also found the existing level of funding to be constitutionally inadequate.

Bullock gave legislators the 2004 session to fix the system, setting a deadline of July 1 to make his order final. Legislators responded by passing a law allowing the state to immediately appeal the preliminary order to the Kansas Supreme Court.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said it was "truly unfortunate" that children, parents and teachers must pay the price of legislative inaction.

Alan Rupe, an attorney representing the Salina and Dodge City districts, said Bullock's order is "certainly called for by basis of the Legislature's behavior."

He said legislators were "defiant" in ignoring Bullock's earlier ruling and failing to find a school finance solution, and that Tuesday's ruling suggests appropriate consequences.

"You can't argue with the logic that if the school finance statutes are unconstitutional, you don't enforce them," Rupe said.

In his Tuesday ruling, Bullock said there were "literally hundreds" of ways legislators could structure, manage and fund public schools. He said that legislators could determine inefficiencies in the present structure and that those corrections might reduce the total dollars needed to fund education.

Those corrections, he wrote, could include consolidation of school districts and the outsourcing or regionalization of services.

During the trial, attorneys for the Salina and Dodge City school districts presented a 2002 consultants' study suggesting that schools were underfunded in Kansas by more than $800 million.

"At this point, nothing Judge Bullock did would come as a surprise," said John Koepke, executive director of the Kansas Association of School Boards. "Judge Bullock made clear in his preliminary order his frustration that the legislature has let things deteriorative to the point they are now. It's difficult to understand how closing schools would help children."

Parents of children from Wichita to Olathe starting calling schools almost as soon as Bullock's order was released, looking for more information.

"It has the potential to be the most disruptive circumstance I've encountered in public education in the last 40 years," said Olathe schools Superintendent Ron Wimmer. "I've never experienced a circumstance where a judge has ordered a complete shutdown of the schools."

[zip]

ping

[rwfromkansas]

Heck, there are some sites that list the home address of all folks who donate politically (it is all public info from the FEC).

I found Karen Hughes and Carl Rove.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Hmmmm. I'm opposed in principle to activist judges, but I'm even more opposed to public schools, so I'm having a tough time mustering much feeling against this decision. Shutting down a whole state's worth of public schools sounds to me like cause for major celebration!

[Tax Government]

When the people are angry enough, they'll rise up and vote the a**holes out.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Why do we need the government running a university?

[ChevyZ28]

This judge should be impeached from his office. Until the people start demanding that their elected legislators legislate and the judges to adjudicate and leave the legislating to the legislators this dangerous trend is going to continue. Time and again the US Constitution along with all of the state Constitutions have been shredded in to nothingness, by unelected judges who have no authority to legislate, who have found the "new power" to subvert the power of the people.

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!! Or be doomed to pass away in to the darkness never to be seen or heard from again!!!!!!!!!!!

[sport]

Since the judges are running the Nation, why do we need Congress, the President, state governors, state legislators, mayors, city councils?

[Centurion2000]

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The state must close its public schools this fall while it fixes constitutional flaws in its system for distributing aid to those schools, a district judge ruled Tuesday in a case that is already under appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court.

To hell with this judge

[Clemenza]

Here in New York, upstate "rotten boroughs" with small student populations have received a disproportionate amount of state aid relative to downstate, which has most of the people. We have had judicial decision after judicial decision attempt to remedy this. Of course, the additional tax dollars shifted to NYC schools hasn't exactly improved the schools. You can't make filet mignon out of Spam just by "dressing it up."

[zip]

This judge is so full of himself that it is ridiculous. Just because Kansas taxpayers won't give more and more money to the "poor" and "minorities" doesn't mean they are doing something "unconstitutional". One man says close the schools and make every student suffer instead of the dims' crowd. period

[zip]

oops ping

[Celtman]

Looked it up - Kansas State Constitution, Article 6.--EDUCATION
Didn't see anything for the Judge to stand on.

[wilmington2]

About 10 years ago a federal judge forced multi-billion spending on Kansas City Kansas or Missouri schools; all the spending did not make a difference. I say arrest this bum.

[DLfromthedesert]

Good. The legislators should just provide tax breaks for people funding private schools, and keep the public schools closed for good.

[eddie willers]

He also found the existing level of funding to be constitutionally inadequate.

Perhaps the scariest court quote in a very long time.

Yeah....just how much funding did the Founding Fathers authorize?

[rustbucket]

Does this affect you, non? Kids in school and all that?

[Ahban]

they keep pushing their luck.

[Delta 21]

Kansas is getting to be a strange place.

Too much government.

Too many taxes.

Its a traveshamokery ! !

[txradioguy]

Silly BS like this makes me wish the schools here on Ft. Riley were still under the supervision of the DODDS School system instead of U.S.D. 475. But then if that were the case, Junction City would have only ONE Elementary school in it's district.

[txradioguy]

I heard on KSAL today that Rupes Ex-wife is running for the state school board too.

She's running for an elected office in the state Education Office and her ex is the lead attorney in the case against the state.

Nah the two can't POSSIBLY be related could they.