School funding trial starts
Posted: Wednesday, September 03, 2008
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Student performance has been hurt by severe financial problems in the Faith School District, Superintendent Mel Dutton testified in the first day of a trial in a legal challenge of the state's education funding system.
Faith has used seven doublewide trailers as classrooms since its old school was condemned in 2004, and budget problems have caused the district to drop a number of courses, Dutton said.
In 2007 tests, 50 percent of the district's 11th graders were less than proficient in math and 44 percent were less than proficient in reading, Dutton said. That was a significant drop in performance from the previous year, and he said he believes the decline in student achievement is related to the use of manufactured homes as classrooms.
"I think that given adequate facilities and additional courses, they could be doing much better than they are," Dutton said.
Dutton was the first witness in the trial, which is expected to last up to six weeks. Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur will rule whether the state's education funding system violates constitutional requirements.
Dutton said the school district cannot afford to build a new permanent school because property taxes would have to be more than doubled to pay bonds for the project. The current state funding system has led Faith to cut vocational, business, accounting and advanced science courses, Dutton said. Some courses, such as foreign language, are offered only through two-way television services.
"Probably one of the biggest concerns I have is the self-esteem of our students and staff in our community who have to educate our students and be educated in such a facility," Dutton said.
Younger students in particular don't understand why they have to go to classes in small, crowded classrooms in the manufactured homes, Dutton said.
In cross examination, Assistant Attorney General Diane Best asked Dutton if he seriously believed potholes in the teachers' parking lot could hurt student performance. Dutton said poor teacher morale could affect students.
Some classes are using 15-year-old textbooks, he said.
Sioux Falls lawyer Scott Abdallah, a lawyer for those challenging the education funding system, opened the trial by saying many South Dakotans will be surprised by evidence of how funding problems have caused problems in school districts.
Abdallah said evidence will show inadequate funding by the state is causing school districts to make drastic cuts in staff, courses and other programs.
But Best said the South Dakota Constitution requires that the state provide students with adequate opportunity, not a certain level of funding. Evidence will show that South Dakota students outperform those in most other states, even though South Dakota spends less per pupil than in many other states, the assistant attorney general said.
"The part you didn't hear about yet is the wonderful academic success of the school students of this state," Best told the judge. "South Dakota schools are among the leaders in this nation in producing high achievement results at low costs."
Abdallah said money is crucial to the school districts because it can restore school buildings, course offerings and teachers.
"The evidence will show that money is all that matters when it comes to the districts we are focusing on," Abdallah said.
Abdallah's case centers on six districts: Rapid City, Faith, Doland, Bon Homme, Willow Lake and Florence.
Superintendents from those schools will present evidence to show the state is not giving suitable funding to provide an adequate education in the districts, Abdallah said.
A handful of students and their parents are the official plaintiffs in the lawsuit, but the legal challenge has been supported by about 100 of South Dakota's 168 school districts.
The lawsuit alleges the state's school funding system substantially underfunds schools and violates a constitutional provision guaranteeing all children access to a free, adequate and quality education.
Wilbur has said she will consider whether the education funding system violates the South Dakota Constitution, but she has said courts cannot order the Legislature to spend more money on schools.
Best said a previous court case has determined that the legal standard is whether the state provides a free public education that allows students to become responsible, intelligent citizens.
The state will present evidence from 10 school districts to show spending levels do not necessarily correlate with student achievement.
South Dakota's school funding system was last challenged in 1994, when a circuit judge ruled the system in use then was constitutional. An appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court was declared moot when the 1995 Legislature, at then-Gov. Bill Janklow's request, changed the school funding formula as part of an effort to cut property taxes.
The formula now requires general spending of a certain amount per student, $4,642 this year, from a combination of local property taxes and state aid. After a school board collects property taxes at a standard statewide levy, it receives enough state aid to bring total spending to that $4,642 per student.
Small school districts also get up to 20 percent more state aid to account for the fact that economies of scale mean that small schools have to spend more per student. Another bonus helps small schools in sparsely populated areas that cannot consolidate with other districts, and schools this year get extra state money if they give teachers raises of 3 percent or more.
South Dakota law provides that state aid will increase each year at the rate of inflation or 3 percent, whichever is less, but the Legislature in most years boosts state aid by more than the amount required by law.
Faith has used seven doublewide trailers as classrooms since its old school was condemned in 2004, and budget problems have caused the district to drop a number of courses, Dutton said.
In 2007 tests, 50 percent of the district's 11th graders were less than proficient in math and 44 percent were less than proficient in reading, Dutton said. That was a significant drop in performance from the previous year, and he said he believes the decline in student achievement is related to the use of manufactured homes as classrooms.
"I think that given adequate facilities and additional courses, they could be doing much better than they are," Dutton said.
Dutton was the first witness in the trial, which is expected to last up to six weeks. Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur will rule whether the state's education funding system violates constitutional requirements.
Dutton said the school district cannot afford to build a new permanent school because property taxes would have to be more than doubled to pay bonds for the project. The current state funding system has led Faith to cut vocational, business, accounting and advanced science courses, Dutton said. Some courses, such as foreign language, are offered only through two-way television services.
"Probably one of the biggest concerns I have is the self-esteem of our students and staff in our community who have to educate our students and be educated in such a facility," Dutton said.
Younger students in particular don't understand why they have to go to classes in small, crowded classrooms in the manufactured homes, Dutton said.
In cross examination, Assistant Attorney General Diane Best asked Dutton if he seriously believed potholes in the teachers' parking lot could hurt student performance. Dutton said poor teacher morale could affect students.
Some classes are using 15-year-old textbooks, he said.
Sioux Falls lawyer Scott Abdallah, a lawyer for those challenging the education funding system, opened the trial by saying many South Dakotans will be surprised by evidence of how funding problems have caused problems in school districts.
Abdallah said evidence will show inadequate funding by the state is causing school districts to make drastic cuts in staff, courses and other programs.
But Best said the South Dakota Constitution requires that the state provide students with adequate opportunity, not a certain level of funding. Evidence will show that South Dakota students outperform those in most other states, even though South Dakota spends less per pupil than in many other states, the assistant attorney general said.
"The part you didn't hear about yet is the wonderful academic success of the school students of this state," Best told the judge. "South Dakota schools are among the leaders in this nation in producing high achievement results at low costs."
Abdallah said money is crucial to the school districts because it can restore school buildings, course offerings and teachers.
"The evidence will show that money is all that matters when it comes to the districts we are focusing on," Abdallah said.
Abdallah's case centers on six districts: Rapid City, Faith, Doland, Bon Homme, Willow Lake and Florence.
Superintendents from those schools will present evidence to show the state is not giving suitable funding to provide an adequate education in the districts, Abdallah said.
A handful of students and their parents are the official plaintiffs in the lawsuit, but the legal challenge has been supported by about 100 of South Dakota's 168 school districts.
The lawsuit alleges the state's school funding system substantially underfunds schools and violates a constitutional provision guaranteeing all children access to a free, adequate and quality education.
Wilbur has said she will consider whether the education funding system violates the South Dakota Constitution, but she has said courts cannot order the Legislature to spend more money on schools.
Best said a previous court case has determined that the legal standard is whether the state provides a free public education that allows students to become responsible, intelligent citizens.
The state will present evidence from 10 school districts to show spending levels do not necessarily correlate with student achievement.
South Dakota's school funding system was last challenged in 1994, when a circuit judge ruled the system in use then was constitutional. An appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court was declared moot when the 1995 Legislature, at then-Gov. Bill Janklow's request, changed the school funding formula as part of an effort to cut property taxes.
The formula now requires general spending of a certain amount per student, $4,642 this year, from a combination of local property taxes and state aid. After a school board collects property taxes at a standard statewide levy, it receives enough state aid to bring total spending to that $4,642 per student.
Small school districts also get up to 20 percent more state aid to account for the fact that economies of scale mean that small schools have to spend more per student. Another bonus helps small schools in sparsely populated areas that cannot consolidate with other districts, and schools this year get extra state money if they give teachers raises of 3 percent or more.
South Dakota law provides that state aid will increase each year at the rate of inflation or 3 percent, whichever is less, but the Legislature in most years boosts state aid by more than the amount required by law.
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