School controversy heats up in Arkansas
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LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (AP) -- With a deadline for overhauling Arkansas' public school funding weeks past without legislative action, the state's highest court was deciding Thursday whether to cut other state services to funnel more money into education.
State officials braced for a possible shutdown of some services as early as afternoon after the state Supreme Court heard arguments on a petition to halt their funding until the Legislature complies with an earlier order to reform school funding.
The court in 2002 had ordered changes in the $1.8 billion school funding system and gave the state until January 1, 2004, to put them in place.
A lawyer for Lake View School District, whose 1992 lawsuit led to that ruling, argued Thursday that the Legislature must pay for services required by the state Constitution, including schools.
He suggested cutting services that are not constitutionally required and putting that money into the schools until the Legislature complies. Among the state services not listed in the state Constitution are child abuse investigations, Medicaid payments, nursing homes, state police, National Guard, unemployment benefits and tax collection.
"The state has to spend $900 million to $1 billion (more) to change the system," lawyer Bill Lewellen said. He suggested a 20 percent decrease in other state spending while Arkansas keeps schools open for its 450,000 students.
The justices questioned whether throwing more money into an inadequate system would solve problems such as unequal distribution of school resources.
Lewellen acknowledged the flaw, but said, "If we don't do something now, we will have decades of children not receiving an adequate education."
Attorney General Mike Beebe asked the court to give the Legislature more time to overhaul a system that various judges have declared unconstitutional for 21 years.
In preparation in case the court ruled against them, Arkansas officials developed what Gov. Mike Huckabee called a "doomsday" plan to keep essential state services running.
Huckabee, a Republican, has said he hoped the high court would order the executive and judicial branches to work together to carry out the court's mandate -- circumventing a Democrat-controlled Legislature.
Legislators discussed school funding during their regular session last year but reached no agreement, with talks breaking down largely because of Huckabee's plan to merge some of the smallest 100 districts to save money. A special session that began December 8 reached few conclusions.
Alexander King, a senior at Lake View, a tiny predominantly black district in the Arkansas Delta, also attended the court hearing Thursday and said he worried about the education his younger siblings would get and feared the state might force the poor, 157-student district to merge with a neighbor.
"Just because we are a little school doesn't mean we should be shut down," he said.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
