Posted on 12/15/2005 1:07:09 PM PST by SmithL
Little Rock -- The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered the state Thursday to fix deficiencies in school funding by late 2006, ruling that reforms made after the court stepped in three years ago are not enough.
In a 5-2 ruling, the justices did not order specific funding levels but said legislators were wrong to freeze school spending at $5,400 per student this year, and "grossly underfunded" improvements to school buildings and equipment.
A special session of the Legislature will be needed if the state is to meet the court deadline. The next regular session of the Legislature, which meets every other year, is in 2007.
Gov. Mike Huckabee said Thursday that he does not want to call a special session until studies of schools' financial needs are conducted.
The court ruled in 2002 that the school districts were underfunded and that the money spent was distributed unevenly. Legislators approved a number of reforms in 2003 and 2004 that the justices initially had said appeared fine.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
They should take it from the judiciary operating funds, and if that means judges' paycuts, that's tough.
Has anyone ever heard of a judge who did not think he was also the governor and the legislature?
I'll bet any private school could create a fine academic institution for that amount of money.
That's an internal state matter. The U.S. Consitituion would have no say in it.
The question would be, does the Ark. Supreme Court have the power under the Ark. Constitution to raise taxes and appropriate funds.
Parochial schools in the costliest location in the nation (NYC) turn out fine students for the same cost the Arkansas court says ain't enough.
That's odds most states don't have laws allowing courts to appropriate money.
Since when do unelected judges get to decide how to spend taxpayer monies...
Yeah, there's this guy named Alito out there, he's pretty clear on his role as a judge.
Since legislatures lost the courage to stand up for their prerogatives.
More rulings from our new aristocratic elite.
The legislators should say, Fine, we'll cut it to $2,700, and pass on the savings to the taxpayers.
Does AK law require certain funding levels? If not met, which branch of Government has jurisdiction? It would seem to me that the judiciary could rule that the law was not being followed and order the executive branch to enforce it, not the legislature to draft new law. Of course, I haven't read the AK law(s) in question and don't know if the judiciary is has jumped the track.
They should give the middle finger to legislating judges and tell them what Andy Jackson told the supreme court 170 years ago, " YOu have made your ruling, now try to enforce it!
I would like to see the legislator simply abolish any state involvement in education, and let individual communities work it out themselves (as they did a hundred years ago)
$5,700 sounds low as an average, but I'm guessing that the cost of living is lower in Arkansas rather than Virginia where I am.
My bad, it is $5,400 per student.
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