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Claims for increased state funding for preschool education have been included in two recently filed cases challenging Georgia and Nebraska’s school finance systems. In September 2004, a group of 51 rural school districts filed Consortium for Adequate School Funding v. State of Georgia, a lawsuit seeking adequate funding for Georgia’s public schools. The complaint, grounded in the education clause of the Georgia Constitution, seeks an increased level of state financing for the basic education program for all of Georgia’s schools. The complaint alleges that the state’s school funding formula no longer provides a realistic measure of the cost of providing an adequate education, particularly in school districts with a limited tax base. Plaintiff alleges that the need for increased school funding is necessitated by new, more demanding educational standards and systems of accountability. Plaintiff has included a claim for increased state funding for the Georgia Prekindergarten Program, alleging that the state has a constitutional duty to ensure that all children begin school with the skills and abilities needed to succeed and achieve a constitutionally adequate education. Although Georgia’s preschool program has had unrestricted eligibility criteria for four-year-olds since 1995, the program served only slightly more than half of all eligible children in 2002-2003. Low enrollment may be related to the structure of the program, which does not mandate school district participation, and to the relatively low levels of state funding. For the 2002-2003 school year, spending per child was $3,824, which was about $3,100 less than the per child amount allocated by the federal government for the Head Start program in Georgia, and approximately $5,700 less than the per child amount allocated by the state for K-12 education.
In the Nebraska case, Nebraska Coalition for Equity and Adequacy v. Johanns, a coalition of 34 rural school districts brought an action to enforce education rights guaranteed under the Nebraska constitution. The lawsuit, which was filed in August 2004, alleges that the Nebraska school finance system is unconstitutional because it fails to provide school districts with the resources needed to educate their students to become productive citizens, find meaningful employment, and qualify for higher education. Plaintiff alleges that the funding system leaves schools unable to provide the opportunities students need in order to reach the standards and goals required by state and federal laws. Among the services that are not adequately funded, according to the complaint, is preschool education. Nebraska has a minimal preschool grant program that served only about 3% of 4-year-olds and 1% of 3-year-olds in 2002-2003.
Prepared: November 2004
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