Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 16, 1994 TAG: 9404180147
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER NOTE: Strip
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In a unanimous opinion, the court said the state is required only to provide a free public education and to ensure that all schools meet the standards of quality set by the General Assembly. The state does that, the court said.
But the coalition won't abandon its effort to close the funding gap between poor and rich systems, according to its chairman, Halifax County School Superintendent Ken Walker. It will try to persuade Gov. George Allen and the General Assembly to provide more state money for poor school divisions in Southside and Southwest Virginia.
``I do hope that the legislature and governor will recognize the importance for Virginia's economic well-being to provide an equitable education opportunity for all Virginia's children,'' Walker said.
Allen said he wanted to assure the coalition members he does not consider them foes and that he wants to work with them and the General Assembly to ensure a high quality of education for all Virginia students.
The governor said he and the legislature started addressing the issue by approving $103 million in disparity funds during the recent session. The state must continue its effort to provide more money to localities that are economically and educationally disadvantaged, Allen said.
The Supreme Court upheld the funding formula that the coalition claimed was unconstitutional
``Even applying a strict scrutiny test ... we hold that nowhere does the Constitution require equal, or substantially equal, funding or programs among and within the Commonwealth's school divisions,'' Justice Roscoe Stephenson Jr. wrote.
``While the elimination of substantial disparity between school divisions may be a worthy goal, it is simply not required by the Constitution. Any relief to which the students may be entitled must come from the General Assembly.''
The chances of getting the legislature to provide more money for the poorest school divisions might be reduced by the court's decision, some legislators said Friday.
House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County, said the ruling is ``unfortunate'' because it eliminates subtle pressure on the General Assembly. It may be tougher now to get the backing of legislators from the wealthier parts of the state, he said.
``This was my fear, that we could have a ruling like this. This will make it more difficult for us who represent Southwest Virginia to get more funds for schools,'' he said.
There could be more litigation, Cranwell said, but he hopes the legislature and school divisions don't get bogged down in legal action. ``It will make our job harder [to get more money for the poorest school systems], but we've got to keep working at it.''
Cranwell hopes the legislature will continue its efforts to reduce disparities in school spending, as it has in the past two bienniums, in which more than $300 million has been provided to reduce the funding gap. Public schools are funded with a combination of state and local taxes.
Further litigation is uncertain, Walker said. The coalition still could claim that the application of the state funding formula is unconstitutional even though the formula itself is constitutional, he said.
Former state Attorney General Andrew Miller, the coalition's lawyer, said he will meet with members to determine the group's next step. It appeared unlikely the coalition would go into the federal courts because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that school funding formulas do not fall under the 14th Amendment, which bars the states from abridging the rights of their citizens.
Rob Jones, president of the Virginia Education Association, called it a ``sad day for children who by no fault of their own happen to live in poor localities.''
Attorney General Jim Gilmore said the ruling was a victory for local option in government.
``In acknowledging that elimination of substantial disparity in school funding is a worthy goal, but not a constitutional mandate, the court recognized that the issue of how taxpayer monies are spent on a quality education is properly a legislative matter,'' Gilmore said.
In the lawsuit against the state, seven school systems and 11 students claimed the funding formula denies them ``an educational opportunity substantially equal to that of children who attend public school in wealthier divisions.''
The localities in the case are the counties of Buchanan, Halifax, Pulaski and Russell and the cities of Petersburg, Radford and South Boston.
In 1989-90, the latest school year for which figures are available, total per pupil spending in the school divisions ranged from $2,895 to $7,268. The state and its localities spent 2.5 times more money per child in some of its divisions than in others.
by CNB