Prop. 98 lawsuit petition denied
CSBA and partners poised for possible appeal
Published: June 12, 2012
Much to the disappointment of CSBA, its Education Legal Alliance and educational partners, including the Association of California School Administrators and the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Turlock unified school districts, a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled June 1 against their Proposition 98 lawsuit.
Interpretation of Prop. 98
CSBA and its partners contend that the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown illegally diverted funds away from schools. The lawsuit, filed last September, alleged that, through the manipulation of Proposition 98’s minimum funding guarantee for education in the 2011-12 budget, the state actually owes California public schools $2.1 billion more than was budgeted.
In March, Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn made a tentative ruling asserting that the state’s constitution and the language of the Proposition 98 ballot measure, approved by voters in 1988, did not guarantee a certain level of base funding for schools under Proposition 98’s Test 1.
“Because of the great importance of this issue, I took the matter under submission so that I could do another full review of all the parties’ written and oral arguments,” explained the judge in official court documents. “I remain of the view that the petition should be denied for the reasons expressed in my tentative ruling. … I now adopt the tentative ruling as my order.”
What does this mean?
The Superior Court’s ruling supports the state’s position that the governor and Legislature are not constitutionally prohibited from redirecting funds away from schools. If this ruling stands and is not successfully appealed, the governor and Legislature may continue to manipulate Proposition 98, resulting in reductions of state apportionments to schools.
Next steps
CSBA and its partners will convene soon to discuss the appeal. CSBA and the other plaintiffs have 60 days to file an appeal from the date of the decision. More updates will be forthcoming.