In 1994, the Lake View (AR) school district - a tiny, rural district with declining enrollment and a high proportion of poor and minority students - sued Arkansas, arguing that the state's system of education finance was inequitable. (See Eric Hanushek's "Who could be against 'adequate' school funding?", for more on the foolishness of such lawsuits.) The courts sided with the district and ordered the legislature to make the per-pupil spending in the Natural State more equitable; that is, to make spending levels in poor, rural districts closer to those of wealthier districts. In response, legislators determined that all districts would spend at least $4,300 per pupil and the state would contribute as much money as needed for all districts to meet that amount. Too low, Lake View argued, and after two additional lawsuits, in 2002 the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered the legislature to undertake an "adequacy" study to determine how much money is required to provide an adequate education to all students. At the time, Attorney General Mark Pryor expressed "grave concerns" about the adequacy ruling, arguing that "what we'll see here in the state of Arkansas is mass consolidation [of school districts] and also a great increase in taxation." This week, Pryor's predictions came true: Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee struck a deal with the legislature to hike sales and services taxes to boost school spending while consolidating any district with fewer than 350 students - including Lake View - with a larger neighboring district. Now, of course, several small districts, Lake View among them, have filed suit to stop the consolidation, arguing, as Professor Martin Schoppmeyer of the University of Arkansas said, "that consolidation runs counter to educational research that children learn better in smaller schools." Of course, even the Arkansas Education Association admits that you can't have your cake and eat it, too. AEA president Sid Johnson has embraced the consolidation plan, saying that it would serve the greater good by giving more students access to a full curriculum, and admitting that "down deep somewhere, you can't just say that schools exist for the staff."
"Small Arkansas schools pay big price for new money," by Eric Kelderman, Stateline.org, July 28, 2004
"Arkansas files appeal challenging school funding ruling," CNN.com, July 3, 2002
"Half of Arkansas school districts ask to join litigation in support of state's new funding formula," by Laura Tayman, American Association of School Administrators Leadership News, August 11, 2000