Is Florida's Education Clause Justiciable?
From the Florida Constitution:
The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida. It is, therefore, a paramount duty of the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders. Adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education and for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of institutions of higher learning and other public education programs that the needs of the people may require. . . .
Two years ago, Southern Legal Counsel (SLC) in Florida filed a lawsuit, on behalf of two nonprofits, two students and four parents, alleging deficiencies in the public education system that violate the state’s constitutional duty (as described above).
A couple of weeks ago, the First District Court of Appeals issued an En Banc Order denying the state’s motion for a writ of prohibition, and certifying a question of public importance to the Florida Supreme Court — the question being whether the education clause in the state’s constitution sets forth judicially ascertainable standards that can be used to determine the adequacy, efficiency, safety, security and high quality of public education on a statewide basis.
SLC alleges that Florida has failed to adequately fulfill its duty by providing insufficient funding for public education, shifting responsibility for educational funding to local governments, providing inadequate resources for teachers‘ salaries in particular, and adopting a so-called accountability policy that is an obstacle to high quality.
Additionally, SLC alleges that Florida’s public schools are not safe and secure, that graduation rates are too low, that student promotion and retention policies are ineffective and that results of achievement tests reveal various inadequacies.
I’m interested to see how this case turns out. You can read more about SLC’s work here.
Thoughts?