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Similar Cases

Forty five out of the 50 states have had lawsuits challenging methods for funding public schools. Below is a list of cases similar to Bradford:

Abbott v. Burke: A New Jersey case filed by the Education Law Center on behalf of over 300,000 school-age children and 60,000 preschoolers who were not receiving an adequate education. While the case was first argued in 1981, there have been over 10 decisions handed down throughout the past 25 years, leading to a series of successful education programs and reforms.

To learn more about Abbot v. Burke, visit the Education Law Center at: http://www.edlawcenter.org/

CFE v. State: A New York case first filed in 1978, CFE (Campaign for Fiscal Equity) v. State also argues for increased education funding based upon provisions in the state constitution. The initial ruling in 1982 was unfavorable, but a similar constitutional challenge successfully began in 1993 and ended with a victory in the Court of Appeals in 2003. Though that argument focused only on New York City schools, the proposed remedy was directed at the entire state.

To learn more about CFE v. State visit the Campaign for Fiscal Equity Web site at: http://www.cfequity.org/

Helena Elementary School district No. 1 v. State: A lawsuit filed by a group of school districts and parents in Montana, who argued that the state’s education article was denying equal education opportunity to students. The state supreme court agreed in 1989, declaring the state’s education finance system unconstitutional.

Rose v. Council for Better Education: A landmark Kentucky case filed in 1985, this lawsuit was brought by 66 property-poor rural school districts, who claimed that education finance system in the state was unconstitutional. After victories in lower courts, the state supreme court ruled in 1989 that “Kentucky’s entire system of common schools … [is] unconstitutional. The court ordered the state to provide enough funding for an “adequate” education for every public school student and to reform the property tax system.

Serrano v. Priest: The first modern school funding case, this lawsuit was filed in California in 1971. The case successfully argued that spending different amounts on pupils depending on economic status was a violation of the equal protection clause of the California constitution.

To read more about the cases above and other lawsuits, check out the National Access Network at http://www.accessednetwork.org/.