Plaintiffs in School Funding Suit Moving Forward With Tweaked Petition

The lawsuit filed by scores of school districts over state funding of public schools moves forward. The suit, modified slightly, goes after the state for what the Committee for Educational Equality calls a lack of equity and adequacy. Tyler Laney, the Superintendent of the Crane R-III School District in southwest Missouri, chairs the Committee. He says legislative efforts through the Joint Committee on Education failed to address all the concerns, so the constitutionality of the new funding formula is being challenged, as well. Laney adds it appears as though the General Assembly has no plans to revisit the issues of equity and adequacy that have been raised since Senate Bill 287 was approved. The plaintiffs hope to get to trial sometime in the 2006 calendar year, but no one is saying that’s a sure thing.