Study: School Finance Lawsuits Only
Produce Long-Term Tax Increases
WASHINGTON,
July 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new, first-of-its-kind study by
the Tax Foundation reveals that lawsuits targeting "inequitable" or
"inadequate" school funding have failed to produce long-term
increases in school spending, but many have produced long-term tax
increases. "Lawsuits may be able to build schools, but they haven't
proven effective at teaching kids," said study author Chris Atkins.
"Higher tax rates appear to be the only enduring result of these
school finance lawsuits. This research questions the conventional
wisdom that you can sue your way to a better school."
The study is
titled "Appropriation by Litigation: Estimating the Cost of Judicial
Mandates for State and Local Education Spending." The study is No.
55 in the Tax Foundation Background Paper series. The study will be
formally unveiled by Atkins at the American Legislative Exchange
Council (ALEC) 34th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA on July 26,
2007 at 2:30 PM during the Education Task Force Meeting. The key
findings of the report are as follows:
Twenty-seven states have
increased school spending or raised taxes to comply with court
mandates. Legislative responses to court mandates vary, but they
typically provide more funding for recurring expenses (i.e.
teacher salaries), capital expenses (i.e. facility construction
or repair), or take the form of general grants that seek to
equalize funding among school districts. Since 1977, lawmakers
have authorized an additional $34 billion in spending or taxes
to comply with court mandates, which equals an average of $976
per pupil.
Despite increasing recurring
spending to comply with court mandates, eighteen of the
twenty-seven states are spending $284 less per pupil on
recurring spending (overall) in 2004 than we would have expected
based on growth trends before the court mandates.
Courts are clearly having a
fiscal impact on state budgets in the short-term, where mandates
are forcing lawmakers to immediately increase state spending on
education. In the long-term, however, the overall impact on
state budgets is questionable. Particularly in states where
courts forced lawmakers to increase recurring expenditures, the
evidence suggests that appropriation by litigation is not a
particularly efficient means of securing permanent funding
increases for schools.
"These
findings show that while judges certainly hold power," continued
Atkins, "the legislature will always retain the 'power of the
purse.' Short- term funding gains realized by schools in the wake of
judicial rulings have not produced, on the whole, higher school
funding in the long haul. It appears that calling your legislator is
still the best way to get more money to schools."
The
nonpartisan, nonprofit Tax Foundation has monitored tax policy at
the federal, state and local levels since 1937. Best known for its
annual calculation of Tax Freedom Day(R), the Tax Foundation is a
nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization.
