Rural Schools Score Major Victory in Arkansas Supreme Court

Home

About Us

Search

Publications

Links

Your State

Policy

Practice

Rural Schools Score Major Victory in Arkansas Supreme Court

The Arkansas Supreme Court issued a decision on November 21, 2002 in Lake View School District v. Huckabee concluding that the state's system for funding education is both inequitable and inadequate, and as such, violates the state constitution. The court concluded that the responsibility for educating Arkansas students lies with State, not local communities, and that the court has the power and duty to ensure that the funding system complies with the state constitution. The court also found that it is possible to define the educational skills and capacities necessary for an adequate education. Because the state legislature had not defined those skills and capacities, the court listed seven capacities that it deemed to be necessary under the state constitution. In examining the equity of the funding system, the court looked at "educational expenditures" rather than "educational revenues" as suggested by the state. The court concluded that there was a sharp "expenditure gap" between rich and poor school districts that "fostered a system of discrimination based on wealth."

The court also cited underpaid teachers, unsafe facilities, lack of basic equipment and labs, and limited advanced placement course offerings as evidence of deficiencies caused by the inadequate and inequitable finance system. These deficiencies have resulted in low student achievement, high college remediation rates, and poor educational outcomes for thousands of Arkansas students.

Finally, the court concluded that money and educational expenditures matter. "There is a direct correlation between dollars expended and the quality of education a student receives."

The only area in which the court sided with the state was on the question of whether the constitution required the provision of pre-school education for low-income students. The court said that although early childhood education programs could well provide educational benefits for children, the courts could not require the legislature to provide and fund such programs. The court did not immediately order the legislature to take action, opting instead to give lawmakers one year to "chart a new course for public education" in Arkansas.

The full text of the decision is available online.

This article was first published in the inaugural issue of the Rural School Finance Report, an e-newsletter from the Rural Trust's Rural Education Finance Center.