Law & Courts

Sauce for Gander: Districts Sue Court in Finance Dispute

By Mark Walsh — February 25, 2008 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

It’s not unusual for school districts to band together to file an education finance lawsuit against their state government.

What is unusual—and may be unprecedented—is for districts to sue the members of their state’s supreme court in a school finance case. That’s happened in Idaho. And, to the surprise of observers, the school districts have the upper hand so far.

The Idaho Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the state’s school finance system was unconstitutional. But some 15 districts that brought the suit soon complained that the court failed to require the state to come up with a remedy. (“Funding Advocates Accuse Idaho’s High Court Of ‘Cop-Out’,” Nov. 29, 2006.)

The districts sued the state high court justices in federal court.

See Also

See other stories on education issues in Idaho. See data on Idaho’s public school system.

On Feb. 7, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill of Boise rejected the supreme court justices’ motion to dismiss the federal suit. The justices on the five-member court had argued that only the U.S. Supreme Court may review the final ruling of a state’s highest court.

But Judge Winmill said that the situation was not a matter of the losing party seeking review of the state supreme court’s decision. The districts were the prevailing party, he said, and they “take issue with the apparent lack of remedy.”

The judge did appear to try to nudge the state high court to clarify matters on its own.

“An expedited order by the Idaho Supreme Court clarifying the posture of the state-court action may be all that is needed to facilitate a quick and inexpensive resolution of this case,” Judge Winmill said in his ruling.

Merlyn W. Clark, a Boise lawyer representing the state justices, told the Idaho Statesman newspaper that the federal judge hadn’t addressed the justices’ argument that he does not have jurisdiction.

Robert C. Huntley, a Boise lawyer representing the school districts, said in an interview that the federal judge wasn’t yet ordering the state high court to do anything.

“But he made it very clear that if we don’t get a remedy phase, that [the supreme court justices] are violating our 14th Amendment due process,” said Mr. Huntley, who himself served on the Idaho Supreme Court, from 1982 to 1989.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the February 27, 2008 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI in Education: Empowering Educators to Tap into the Promise and Steer Clear of Peril
Explore the transformative potential of AI in education and learn how to harness its power to improve student outcomes.
Content provided by Panorama Education
English Learners Webinar Family and Community Engagement: Best Practices for English Learners
Strengthening the bond between schools and families is key to the success of English learners. Learn how to enhance family engagement and support student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
How an Inquiry-Based Approach Transforms Math Learning
Transform math learning with an approach that empowers students to become active, engaged learners.
Content provided by MIND Education

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Court Battles and Presidential Election Have Big Implications for Title IX Regulation
A federal appeals court heard arguments about whether some provisions of the Title IX regulation should be allowed to go into wider effect.
4 min read
Image of a gavel
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Top Affirmative Action Foe Has New Target: Scholarships for Aspiring Minority Teachers
The legal activist behind the U.S. Supreme Court college admissions decision has now sued over an Illinois minority scholarship program.
3 min read
A picture of a gavel on a target.
Bill Oxford/Getty
Law & Courts This State Requires Schools to Teach the Bible. Parents and Teachers Are Suing
Opponents of an Oklahoma directive that compels schools to teach the Bible are suing the state’s superintendent of public instruction.
4 min read
Image of a young boy pulling the bible off of a bookshelf.
D-Keine/E+
Law & Courts States Sue TikTok Over 'Addictive' Design Features. What That Means for Schools
The lawsuits are the newest fight targeting social media platforms' algorithms.
3 min read
The United States government laws on certain social media applications such as TikTok
iStock/Getty