Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Huckabee explains Lake View vs. Arkansas case

In the current game of education hot potato, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tossed the ball to schools in the state.

Huckabee toured Arkansas Thursday, July 10, stopping in various cities to address the education topic. In Prescott, the meeting was held in the community room of the Christus St. Michael Clinic.

In his initial statement, Huckabee said he was "here to answer questions and clear up misinformation."

He gave a brief history of the Lake View lawsuit, saying he inherited it from the Clinton Administration when it had first been filed.

The Lake View School District, he said, sued the state over inequitable funding and wanted the education funding formula changed to make it more equitable for smaller districts.

The suit took more than 10 years to complete, ending in Nov. 2002, with the Arkansas Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Lake View district and ordering the state to comply.

Huckabee said the court's written response was terse.

However, in 1996, well before the case went to the ASC, the state came up with a formula it thought would work. "We thought we'd settled the issue," Huckabee said.

This, though, wasn't the way it turned out. The state's plan was to base funding on a per student basis.

A lower court ruled sameness wasn't the same as equitable and equity isn't a matter of funding.

According to the ASC ruling, for districts to be equitable, they must offer the students the same opportunities  regardless of size.

In addition, the ASC's ruling did not address the issue of how well schools do or test scores, but compared curriculum offered at different schools.

Along with this problem, Huckabee said, Congress passed the "No Child Left Behind" law, which does address the issue of how well schools prepare their students. Under this law, all students must perform at grade level.

Under the state's funding formula, he said, the state average being paid a district per student is $5,800. In Prescott, he added, the rate is $5,600, while Lake View receives $7,800 per student.

During the lawsuit, the state argued it gave the money to the districts to use as the local boards deemed. The state's position was this was a local issue and should be handled on the local level.

The court disagreed and put the onus on the state ruling the state is responsible and can't delegate this responsibility to local boards.

The ASC gave the state until Jan. 1, 2004, to have a plan in place to make sure all districts in the state provide equitable education for Arkansas's students.

This, however, does not mean districts must start meeting all criteria as of Jan. 1, 04, only that a plan must be in place.

Huckabee said the plan he and members of the legislature worked out is the only one out there, but if anyone has a better idea to let him know.