Midwest Education Law

According to a report in The Kansas City Star, Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro is recommending to the State Board of Education that the Kansas City, Missouri School District lose its accreditation.  A Missouri statute provides that an unaccredited school district must pay tuition and transportation costs for students within its boundaries who opt to transfer to an accredited district within the same or an adjoining county.  Last year, the Missouri Supreme Court interpreted this law to mean that the "receiving" school district does not have discretion to reject the transfer student.  (The case involved students from the St. Louis School District, which previously lost its accreditation.) 

This is not, however, the end of the story.  The case was sent back to a lower court for trial, where the affected school districts have mounted new challenges to the law.  They have argued that the law violates the Hancock Amendment's prohibition against unfunded mandates, is impossible to comply with because of physical space limitations, and that it may result in violations of IDEA.  That trial is now scheduled for January 23, 2012.

If the State Board in fact strips KCMSD of its accreditation, and you work in a school district that receives a transfer request from a KCMSD student, consult your legal counsel as soon as possible.  We can also work with you to develop procedures for responding to such requests, or to position your district to defend against litigation stemming from transfer requests.

Education funding issues continue to dominate the Kansas and Missouri legislatures’ attention this session as both states struggle with large budget shortfalls.

In Kansas, House Speaker Mike O’Neal (R-Hutchinson) on Thursday urged the passage of a constitutional amendment that would require the Kansas Legislature to provide an "equitable distribution of public school funds." Currently, the Kansas Constitution requires the Legislature to make a “suitable provision” of funds to Kansas public schools. O’Neal said the change in language would prevent the Kansas Supreme Court from ordering the Legislature to increase school funding. Opponents of the measure argue that the change would effective remove the Legislature’s responsibility to provide adequate funding to public schools.

The Missouri General Assembly is considering several proposals that would alter the formula governing the way public schools are funded because formula-funded schools are facing a $330 million shortfall in 2013. On Wednesday, the Senate Education Committee held the General Assembly’s first hearing on the new funding proposals.

While school funding is likely the dominant issue gaining school districts’ attention during this legislative session in both Missouri and Kansas, a number of proposed bills in both states could also affect schools.

In Missouri, the chairman of the Missouri House’s Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education, Rep. Scott Dieckhaus (R-Washington), has indicated his support for a number of measures, including bills tying teacher tenure to student performance, as well as those addressing open enrollment, social promotion, and cyberbullying.  Bills that expand educational opportunities outside of the public school system for disabled students and those that expand Missouri charter schools also have the support of Rep. Dieckhaus.  Last week, the House Workforce Development Committee heard testimony on HB 205, which would the Missouri Human Rights Act to provides protection to school districts and other employers against frivolous discrimination claims. 

In Kansas, the chairman of the House Education Committee, Rep. Clay Aurand (R-Courtland), plans to hold hearings in March on a bill that would abolish the Kansas Board of Regents and the Kansas Board of Education in favor of having an Education Secretary appointed by the Governor.  Other proposed legislation in Kansas includes a bill that would require online reporting of all expenditures by school districts and bills relating to at-risk students and non-resident students.  The Senate is currently considering multimillion dollar budget cuts to schools after the House approved HB2014 last week.  The bill would eliminate a $50 million budget deficit.

Continue to check this blog for updates on these bills and others.

A New York state appellate court has allowed a lawsuit challenging New York City-area school funding to proceed.   In the case, Hussein v. State of New York, the parents of students in eleven schools districts outside New York City have sued the state, arguing that school underfunding violates the state Constitution.  The parents allege that substantial school underfunding is depriving New York City-area children of a basic education.   

Challenges like the one initiated by the New York parents are becoming increasingly common as school districts struggle to balance budgets without sacrificing services for students.  Courts are often hesitant to hear such cases because they involve complex state fiscal policy and social policy decisions, rather than strictly legal questions.  Nonetheless, the New York appellate court agreed with a lower court that the case should be allowed to proceed because it dealt only with school funding in New York City, rather than policy choices at the state level.