August 18, 2008
Brief Argues State Constitution Does Not Require Judicial Funding Mandate
Washington, DC, August 15, 2008 - In a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the Indiana Supreme Court, the Tax Foundation advocates the reversal of a Court of Appeals decision creating a judicially enforceable right to a "quality" education.
Joseph Henchman, tax counsel for the Tax Foundation, argues that the Court of Appeals' interpretation in Bonner v. Daniels goes beyond the text and historical meaning of the Education Clause of the Indiana Constitution, and that the Court of Appeals ignores the problems other states have had with judicial funding mandates.
"Nothing in the Education Clause establishes a specific, defined level of education that must be attained as long as the state maintains a generally supportive stance towards knowledge and learning," explained Henchman. "The Education Clause guarantees a free public education, not the right to a ‘quality' education."
The Bonner v. Daniels suit seeks a judicial order increasing funding, an area generally left to the political process. Although the original trial court dismissed the case, the Indiana Court of Appeals allowed the suit to go forward.
The Tax Foundation brief also notes that Indiana's the lower court focused improperly on funding as the only way to improve state education.
"It is problematic to say that more money necessarily means better performance in public schools. A focus on dollar amounts ignores potential efficiency increases, the diminishing returns of added spending, and alternative uses for each dollar," said Henchman. "Courts are ill-prepared to weigh these competing policy concerns, and those that have tried have quickly found themselves mired in endless lawsuits to quantify unquantifiable standards. The Supreme Court should avoid micromanagement of education and finance policy."
The Tax Foundation has prepared a report, "Appropriate by Litigation: Estimating the Cost of Judicial Mandates," Tax Foundation Background Paper No. 55, July 2007, available at http://tinyurl.com/tfedfin, that outlines the serious problems encountered by courts as they embark on micromanaging education policy and mandating funding levels.
The Tax Foundation brief was filed on August 5, 2008, and can be found at http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/23497.html. A decision is expected this fall.
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937.
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To set up an interview to discuss Bonner v. Daniels and the brief submitted by the Tax Foundation, please contact Matt Moon, the Tax Foundation's manager of media relations, at (202) 464-5102.