Appeals court upholds state education ‘adequacy’ ruling

Florida judges cannot rule on the best way to educate the state’s students because those decisions, based on the state constitution, rest with lawmakers and the governor, an appeals court said Wednesday, upholding a lower court ruling in an 8-year-old legal battle.

The 1st District Court of Appeal sided with the state and against education advocates and parents, including some from Orlando, in a ruling issued Wednesday. The court, much like the circuit judge in Tallahassee who ruled initially, said the lawsuit dealt with “political questions not subject to judicial review.”

The 2009 lawsuit claimed Florida public schools were not adequately funded and did not provide a solid education to all students in violation of the Florida Constitution. The case was a challenge to the school reforms ushered in by former Gov. Jeb Bush nearly 20 years ago — including state testing and A-to-F school grades — and to Florida’s school funding system.

The lawsuit — Citizens for Strong Schools v. Florida State Board of Education — went to trial last year. After four weeks of testimony, and nearly 5,500 exhibits presented, a circuit court judge in Tallahassee ruled for the state, saying funding was “adequate” and decisions about public education rested with the Legislature. The plaintiffs, who’d argued inadequate funding shortchanged students, appealed. But the judges on the appeals court weren’t swayed.

“There is no language or authority” in the state constitution “that would empower judges to order the enactment of educational policies regarding teaching methods and accountability, the appropriate funding of public schools, the proper allowance for charter school and schools of choice, the best methods of student accountability, and related funding priorities,” the court wrote. “In a republican form of government founded on democratic rule it must be the elected representatives and executives who make the difficult and profound decisions regarding how our children [are] to be educated.”