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| | Master: Consolidation is school case's '900 pound gorilla'
Wednesday, Feb 11, 2004 By David Robinson Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Two special masters overseeing Arkansas' compliance with court-ordered education reforms said at a Tuesday hearing that legislative efforts on school consolidation will be taken into consideration. The sticky political issue was not mentioned in the state Supreme Court's ruling against the state in November 2002. It also wasn't mentioned in the high court's directives to the two masters. "That's the 900-pound gorilla that's in the room, but no one knows it's there," said Special Master David Newbern, a former Supreme Court justice. During Tuesday's hearing, Newbern and Special Master Brad Jesson set hearing dates and advised attorneys that witness testimony will be limited. The next hearings have been set for Feb. 23 and 24. Newbern pointed to the Supreme Court's directive that he and Jesson determine how per student expenditures are being spent in local school districts. He said the court's question may bring consolidation into deliberations because it raises questions about per pupil spending on administrative expenditures versus classroom instruction, instructional equipment and school facilities. In its recently concluded special session to address the court's mandate, the Legislature passed a law that by July 1 will require 57 of the state's 308 school districts to administratively consolidate with another district. Gov. Mike Huckabee and a minority of lawmakers had failed to win passage of a plan in early 2003 to reduce the number of districts to about 115. That would have consolidated districts with fewer than 1,500 students. In the special session, a measure to consolidate districts with fewer than 500 students also failed. His strong differences with the Legislature on that issue led the governor to get a new attorney in the school funding case. Attorney Leon Holmes represents Huckabee, while Attorney General Mike Beebe represents the Legislature. The consolidation question was raised Tuesday by David Matthews, an attorney for the Rogers and Bentonville school districts. After the hearing, he said he was surprised by Newbern's response. "Why do you think I asked that question?" Matthews said. "I wanted some of these small school folks that are thinking, 'well, we're going to come in here and say we don't make enough money out of the funding formula to pay the teachers' salaries,' (to understand) you better be careful what you wish for. "If they decided that efficiency is within their purview, and perhaps they will do that, then an awful lot of the additional small schools in Arkansas are exposed," he said. "If I was a small school advocate, I would be concerned by that." Huckabee said in a statement later Tuesday: "The Arkansas Constitution requires an efficient public education system. The whole point of the Lake View case is to have a constitutional system that provides equity and adequacy in an efficient manner. If the law didn't require that, rest assured I would have left that issue alone." Dion Wilson, attorney for the Lake View School District, said he wasn't pleased that the special masters will consider consolidation but he hopes the issue can be settled. "It was distressing in that the order from the Supreme Court gave them authority to consider other maters," Wilson said. "Everybody knows that the gorilla is out there, but no one wants to deal with it. I think this is the right time, the right forum to bring it up. Let's get it out in the open and get a decision on it." In the meantime, Wilson said the Lake View School Board will consider next week whether to authorize him to seek a federal injunction to at least delay implementation of the state's new consolidation law. In their first hearing since being sworn in Thursday, the special masters told more than a dozen attorneys in the Supreme Court chamber to be prepared to explain why the Legislature approved less than half the amount of new revenue for education than was recommended in a court-ordered "adequacy" study. Legislation adopted in the special session calls for spending an additional $400 million-plus each year. "That's an easy answer," Matthews said. "The Legislature rejected the notion of 15-1 (student-teacher ratios) in K-3, which was about half the money," he said. The legislative Joint Committee on Educational Adequacy, made up of lawmakers but which relied heavily on two California-based school funding experts, recommended about $850 million a year in additional spending. "I just want to be clear, what's before us is: That's the study; what's been done?'" Newbern said. ----- Rob Moritz of the Arkansas News Bureau contributed to this report. |
