Is an Adequacy Perfect Storm Brewing?
Last week, the Superior Court in my home state of Washington ruled that the state’s finance system was unconstitutional. The court concluded that the current finance system perennial underfunds a basic education, and that the current funding in not ample, stable, or dependable. It also has to rely too much on local supplemental funds to support basic education costs. Such rulings are not unusual for a state. It is unclear whether this ruling will be challenged to the state supreme court. The legislature will have to determine whether they want to start to address this issue in the remaining month of the legislative year (session ends March 11th) at the same time they are trying to work out many of the details of significant legislation that passed last year, and pass a package of bills that would position the state to be more competitive in Race to the Top round 2. Needless to say, it will be a busy month for the education policy community in Washington state.
This ruling made me think about whether a new round of adequacy lawsuits is brewing in the near future. It seems like the perfect adequacy storm may be coming in the very near future. First, most state budgets are in horrible shape, and it will difficult for states to close budget gaps without education playing a role in those reductions. Second, the federal stimulus funding is going to run out soon, and states are not in a position to backfill those funds. So, while the stimulus funds allowed schools to put off difficult cuts for a couple years, when the federal funds end at the same time that states are cutting state funding, it does not look good. And third, local property tax revenues are not looking strong any time in the near future. Now property tax policies differ by state, but at least in some states, when property values fall, so do the tax revenues (although there is a lag until the property tax bases are reassessed). So to sum up the fiscal outlook for schools in much of the country – federal funds down, state funds down, local funds down.
Add to the funding situation the policy push for higher standards. If the common