In a ruling that could have profound consequences for Colorado’s budget, a Denver judge Friday said the state’s school-funding system is not “thorough and uniform” as mandated by the state constitution.
The state’s school-funding system “is not rationally related to the mandate to establish and maintain a thorough and uniform system of free public schools,” District Judge Sheila Rappaport said in a 183-page ruling in which she called the system “unconscionable.”
“It is also apparent that increased funding will be required,” Rappaport wrote.
The case, Lobato vs. State of Colorado, was filed in 2005. It originated with a group of parents in the San Luis Valley but expanded to include districts from across the state.
Lawyers for the state, represented by Attorney General John Suthers’ office, argued that the question of how much should be spent on education should be left to the legislature and voters. They also said more money alone is not necessarily the solution to better schools.
But Rappaport clearly disagreed.
“There is not enough money in the system to permit school districts across the state to properly implement standards-based education and to meet the requirements of state law and regulation,” she wrote in her ruling. “This is true for districts of every description. . . . There is not one school district that is sufficiently funded. This is an obvious hallmark of an irrational system.”
Certain to be appealed
The judge said the problem has been compounded by continued budget cuts to education in recent years, adding, “Current economic conditions, however, are not the source of the school finance crisis. They have made an unworkable situation unconscionable.”
Eric Brown, spokesman for Gov. John Hickenlooper, said the state will almost certainly appeal the decision to the Colorado Supreme Court.
“The court clearly invited an appeal, and we believe an appeal is likely,” Suthers spokesman Mike Saccone said. “It was clearly very tempting for the District Court judge to wade into what is a public policy debate.”
“We won big time,” said attorney Alexander Halpern, who, along with Kathleen Gebhardt, initiated the lawsuit in 2005.
The judge’s ruling requires the state to come up with a funding system that pays for all that legislators have asked schools to do and prevents lawmakers from implementing “any and all laws that fail to establish and fund a thorough and uniform system,” he said.
However, the judge, apparently recognizing that an overhaul of the system for funding public education could take time, has stayed the order for “a reasonable amount of time,” so that lawmakers can work on a new system. Depending on how that system is structured, it could require approval by voters.
The judge also ruled that the current system erodes local control because the lack of sufficient state funding ties local school boards’ hands, Halpern said.
The plaintiffs argued that no calculation had ever been made of what the true cost is of providing a “thorough and uniform” public education to all students.
The lawsuit doesn’t seek money. However, one consultant hired by Halpern and Gebhardt estimated the state’s current funding system falls short by as much as $4 billion a year.
The state now spends more than 40 percent, or $3.2 billion in the 2010-11 fiscal year that ended in June, of its almost $7 billion general fund on K-12 schools.
“Wow. Wow. Wow.”
Coloradans in November, by a 2-to-1 margin, shot down a $3 billion tax-increase measure for schools.
Meanwhile, the current school-finance system would stay in place until the Colorado Supreme Court either makes a final ruling in the case or if defendants or plaintiffs ask Rappaport to revisit the ruling. Rappaport indicated she wanted lawmakers to address the issue, saying the injunction against the state couldn’t be revisited until the end of the 2012 legislative session.
Lawmakers responding to the ruling were scrambling to understand it.
Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, a former schoolteacher and State Board of Education member, hailed the decision. “It makes a statement about the necessity of adequate school funding.”
Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, a witness in the case, also was shocked, but not so ecstatic.
“Wow,” he said. “Wow. Wow. This ruling is extremely disappointing.”
King said during his 12 years as a lawmaker, “we’ve done a thorough and comprehensive job of analyzing how to fund districts in the state of Colorado.”
Schools are “not underfunded,” he said. “With the pressure of Medicaid on the budget, we have to balance our resources with all the demands. Not one area should be absolute in its funding from the state of Colorado.”
Staff writer Karen Auge contributed to this report.
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
