You Have the Money

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

Franklin County Circuit Court Tuesday ruled in favor of the General Assembly, finding the level of education funding adequate and in compliance with Kentucky’s Constitution, according to a decision in a three-year old lawsuit.

The Council for Better Education filed a lawsuit in September 2003 against the General Assembly for not providing schools enough money to comply with the academic goals outlined in a 1989 court decision and subsequent 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs, a group of superintendents, claim that funding of Kentucky’s schools is "inadequate and arbitrarily determined by the legislature."

Defendants refuted theallegations and argued that the state’s Constitution "prohibits the judiciary from dictating to the legislature what levels of funding are appropriate and what process to use to determine how much funding education requires."

The suit does not specify how much money is needed to adequately fund Kentucky schools. But the group's consultant put the price tag at $1.2 billion annually.

This validates my opinion. Education has money. Government must make the dollars work.