DeRolph v. State
Encyclopedia
DeRolph v. State was a landmark case in Ohio
constitutional law
in which the Ohio Supreme Court
ruled that the state's method for funding public education
was unconstitutional. Handed down on March 24, 1997, the 4-3 opinion said that the state funding system "fails to provide for a thorough and efficient system of common schools" as required by the Ohio Constitution
and directed the state to find a remedy. The court would look at the case several times over the next 12 years before relinquishing jurisdiction
, though the underlying problems with the school funding system were never fully solved.
that included provisions requiring a "thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the State."
Historically, Ohio's public schools have been funded with a combination of local property tax
revenue and money from the state. This led to disparities
in the quality of education in more affluent districts, where high property values led to greater funding, and urban and rural districts, where low property values left students with funding shortfalls and dilapidated facilities.
Funding became even more difficult for districts in 1976, when House Bill 920 went into effect, essentially freezing the revenue from property taxes. A millage tax would usually generate more revenue as the value of property in a district increased, but HB 920 required county auditors to cut the tax rate so it would bring in the same amount of revenue each year. Even as inflation
increased costs for schools, their revenue could not keep up, forcing them to ask voters to approve new levies
every few years.
Over the next 30 years, the state's school districts would send nearly 10,000 levies to the ballot. Voters grew weary of the constant campaigns and -- unaware of the intricacies of the funding scheme -- often questioned why schools were constantly running out of money.
Districts in both poor and affluent areas found the funding system unsustainable, and in 1988, superintendents
from districts in underfunded areas in southeast Ohio
formed the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools to work together to address the problem. Lacking the funding to mount a serious legal challenge, they invited districts from around the state to join a new coalition: The Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding.
The coalition, a council of governments
representing nearly every school district in the state, formed in 1991 and filed a complaint in the Perry County
Court of Common Pleas
on December 19, 1991, on behalf of Nathan DeRolph, a 15-year-old freshman
at Sheridan High School
, and 550 school districts in the state. Represented by Bricker & Eckler LLP
, the coalition named the state, the Ohio Board of Education, its superintendent, and the Ohio Department of Education as plaintiff
s in the suit, which alleged that the funding system did not meet the constitutional standard for thoroughness or efficiency, and presented an exhaustive body of evidence demonstrating that the system produced unequal, inefficient and inadequate results.
The allegations went mostly unchallenged by the state, which in fact produced its own witnesses to testify to the inadequacy of the funding system. The case produced a 30-day trial, a transcript more than 5,600 pages long and 450 exhibits before the trial judge, Linton D. Lewis, Jr., ruled on July 1, 1994, that Ohioans had a fundamental right to an state-funded education and that the state’s system for providing that education was unconstitutional. Further, he ordered the board of education to devise a means for the General Assembly
to eliminate wealth-based disparities in education.
Although the board voted not to appeal, the attorney general’s office
, which represents the state, filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth District Court of Appeals, based in Canton
. The appeals court’s 2-1 decision, handed down on August 30, 1995, held that a previous ruling by the state supreme court permitted disparities in education, so long as the state provided for a basic education.
Two months later, the coalition appealed to the Supreme Court of Ohio
.
President Pro Tempore
Richard Finan
said that a ruling for the plaintiffs would be a "worst-case scenario" for the legislature because any solution put forward would be challenged as well, while William L. Phillis, the director of the coalition, cast the decision as one between educating children for a rapidly evolving world or letting them fall behind.
The case reached the Ohio Supreme Court on September 10, 1996. Chief Justice
Thomas Moyer tripled the length of oral arguments by letting each side present for 90 minutes. Bricker's Nicholas A. Pittner argued for the schools, while Solicitor General
Jeffrey Sutton
defended the state.
Pittner reiterated arguments that unequal funding and dilapidated buildings left some students with less opportunity than others. Sutton conceded that there were problems with the system, but he argued that they should be fixed locally, not by the court. He said that the state constitution guaranteed students an education for free, not the best possible education for free.
Justices peppered both sides with questions, asking whether anyone should be held to account for funding inadequacies and focusing also on school facilities around the state, which Pittner noted were sometimes in such poor condition that they didn't even meet the state's minimum standards for a humane prison.
adjourned to deliberate, two justices, Andrew Douglas
and Paul Pfeifer
, had decided that the funding system was unconstitutional and needed to be changed. Meanwhile, Justice Deborah L. Cook was adamant that the court should not be involved in school funding decisions and "never budged from that position," though neither side had made that claim.
A majority emerged among Justices Douglas, Pfeifer, Alice Robie Resnick
, and Francis E. Sweeney, Sr. Meanwhile, Chief Justice Moyer and Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton
indicated they were likely to join Cook, but they expressed more flexibility depending on the language of the majority opinion
, which was randomly assigned to Sweeney. Although formal deliberations had only lasted about a half-hour, the justices continued to discuss the case one-on-one, as Sweeney tried to coax Moyer and Stratton into the majority.
But in the end, the decision was carried by the narrow, 4-3 majority that emerged after oral arguments. The March 24, 1997, ruling:
Resnick, Pfeifer and Douglas each wrote separate concurring opinions. For the minority, Moyer's dissent
acknowledged problems with school funding but questioned whether they actually violated the state constitution and argued that they were matters for the legislature to handle.
, Senate President Richard H. Finan and House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson
called a press conference
to denounce the ruling. Voinovich suggested that his administration
might defy the decision, and he classified the ruling as "judicial activism
" and "a thinly veiled call for a massive, multi-billion tax increase."
Editorial board
s at the largest papers in the state joined in — perhaps prodded by the governor's aides — arguing that the decision put too much power in the hands of an unknown rural judge, echoing complaints by Republican Party
lawmakers. The Plain Dealer wrote that "almost any other outcome would have been preferable." The Columbus Dispatch
called the ruling "one highly injudicious lurch" and dismissed claims that most districts in the state were underfunded. The Cincinnati Enquirer
went as far as calling for a constitutional amendment
that would trump the ruling, saying that otherwise, "education policy for 11 million Ohio residents will be dictated in a rural flyspeck on the state map."
The next week, the state filed a motion to reconsider
, asking the court (1) whether property taxes could still be used to fund schools at all; (2) whether school funding debts remained valid even though repayment provisions extended beyond the court's deadline to find a new funding system; and (3) to retain jurisdiction
over the case instead of sending it back to the trial court. The coalition opposed the motion, saying that the ruling was clear enough and that the state needed to instead get about the business of providing additional funding.
Later that month, the court issued a ruling clarifying that property taxes could still be used if they were not the primary revenue source for school funding; that debts remained valid; and that the case would return to the trial judge, but that appeals of his decision would bypass the Court of Appeals and go directly back to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
constitutional law
Constitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
in which the Ohio Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Ohio
The Supreme Court of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, each serving six-year terms...
ruled that the state's method for funding public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
was unconstitutional. Handed down on March 24, 1997, the 4-3 opinion said that the state funding system "fails to provide for a thorough and efficient system of common schools" as required by the Ohio Constitution
Ohio Constitution
The Ohio Constitution is the basic governing document of the State of Ohio, which in 1803 became the 17th state to join the United States of America. Ohio has had two constitutions since statehood was granted....
and directed the state to find a remedy. The court would look at the case several times over the next 12 years before relinquishing jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
, though the underlying problems with the school funding system were never fully solved.
Background
Following Ohio's 1851 constitutional convention, voters approved a new constitutionConstitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
that included provisions requiring a "thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the State."
Historically, Ohio's public schools have been funded with a combination of local property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
revenue and money from the state. This led to disparities
Social inequality
Social inequality refers to a situation in which individual groups in a society do not have equal social status. Areas of potential social inequality include voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, the extent of property rights and access to education, health care, quality housing and other...
in the quality of education in more affluent districts, where high property values led to greater funding, and urban and rural districts, where low property values left students with funding shortfalls and dilapidated facilities.
Funding became even more difficult for districts in 1976, when House Bill 920 went into effect, essentially freezing the revenue from property taxes. A millage tax would usually generate more revenue as the value of property in a district increased, but HB 920 required county auditors to cut the tax rate so it would bring in the same amount of revenue each year. Even as inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
increased costs for schools, their revenue could not keep up, forcing them to ask voters to approve new levies
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
every few years.
Over the next 30 years, the state's school districts would send nearly 10,000 levies to the ballot. Voters grew weary of the constant campaigns and -- unaware of the intricacies of the funding scheme -- often questioned why schools were constantly running out of money.
Districts in both poor and affluent areas found the funding system unsustainable, and in 1988, superintendents
Superintendent (education)
In education in the United States, a superintendent is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization....
from districts in underfunded areas in southeast Ohio
Appalachian Ohio
Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio characterized by the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines the region as consisting of twenty-nine counties...
formed the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools to work together to address the problem. Lacking the funding to mount a serious legal challenge, they invited districts from around the state to join a new coalition: The Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding.
The coalition, a council of governments
Council of Governments
Councils of governments are regional bodies that exist throughout the United States. They are also sometimes called regional councils, regional commissions, regional planning commissions, planning district commissions, and development districts...
representing nearly every school district in the state, formed in 1991 and filed a complaint in the Perry County
Perry County, Ohio
Perry County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. Founded on March 1, 1818, it was the 55th county to be formed in Ohio. Portions of Fairfield, Washington and Muskingum Counties were taken to create Perry County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 36,058. Its county seat...
Court of Common Pleas
Ohio Courts of Common Pleas
The Ohio Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of the state court system of Ohio.The courts of common pleas are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state. They are the only trial courts created by the Ohio Constitution . The duties of the courts are outlined in Article IV, Section...
on December 19, 1991, on behalf of Nathan DeRolph, a 15-year-old freshman
Freshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...
at Sheridan High School
Sheridan High School (Thornville, Ohio)
Sheridan High School is a public high school in Thornville, Ohio. The school is located in Northern Perry County. Sheridan High School's teams are known as the Generals, and the school colors are red and gray....
, and 550 school districts in the state. Represented by Bricker & Eckler LLP
Bricker & Eckler
Bricker & Eckler, LLP, known more commonly as Bricker, is a law firm in the midwestern United States with approximately 160 attorneys and 3 offices in Ohio. Its first office was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1944 by John W. Bricker, a three-term Ohio governor, two-term U.S...
, the coalition named the state, the Ohio Board of Education, its superintendent, and the Ohio Department of Education as plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
s in the suit, which alleged that the funding system did not meet the constitutional standard for thoroughness or efficiency, and presented an exhaustive body of evidence demonstrating that the system produced unequal, inefficient and inadequate results.
The allegations went mostly unchallenged by the state, which in fact produced its own witnesses to testify to the inadequacy of the funding system. The case produced a 30-day trial, a transcript more than 5,600 pages long and 450 exhibits before the trial judge, Linton D. Lewis, Jr., ruled on July 1, 1994, that Ohioans had a fundamental right to an state-funded education and that the state’s system for providing that education was unconstitutional. Further, he ordered the board of education to devise a means for the General Assembly
Ohio General Assembly
The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate...
to eliminate wealth-based disparities in education.
Although the board voted not to appeal, the attorney general’s office
Ohio Attorney General
The Ohio Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Ohio in the United States. The office is filled by general election, held every four years. The Ohio Attorney General is Mike DeWine.-History:...
, which represents the state, filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth District Court of Appeals, based in Canton
Canton, Ohio
Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. The appeals court’s 2-1 decision, handed down on August 30, 1995, held that a previous ruling by the state supreme court permitted disparities in education, so long as the state provided for a basic education.
Two months later, the coalition appealed to the Supreme Court of Ohio
Supreme Court of Ohio
The Supreme Court of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, each serving six-year terms...
.
Prologue
In the days before the court heard the case, there was uncertainty on both sides as to how the justices would rule. The justices could be pigeonholed on certain issues, but on education, their leanings were harder to categorize. SenateOhio Senate
The Ohio State Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly, the legislative body for the U.S. state of Ohio. There are 33 State Senators. The state legislature meets in the state capital, Columbus. The President of the Senate presides over the body when in session, and is currently Tom...
President Pro Tempore
President pro tempore
A President pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer...
Richard Finan
Richard Finan
Richard H. Finan is a Republican politician who formerly served in the Ohio General Assembly. An attorney, Finan was initially elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1972, representing a suburban Cincinnati district. He was easily reelected in 1974 and 1976.In 1978, Senator Michael...
said that a ruling for the plaintiffs would be a "worst-case scenario" for the legislature because any solution put forward would be challenged as well, while William L. Phillis, the director of the coalition, cast the decision as one between educating children for a rapidly evolving world or letting them fall behind.
The case reached the Ohio Supreme Court on September 10, 1996. Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
The office of Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court was created in 1912 as an elected office with a term of six years. Prior to this, there were Chief Judges. The office is currently held by Maureen O'Connor.-Chief Judges of the Ohio Supreme Court:...
Thomas Moyer tripled the length of oral arguments by letting each side present for 90 minutes. Bricker's Nicholas A. Pittner argued for the schools, while Solicitor General
Solicitor General of Ohio
The Solicitor General of Ohio, Ohio Solicitor General, State Solicitor of Ohio, or Ohio State Solicitor is the top appellate solicitor or lawyer for the U.S. State of Ohio. It is an appointed position in the Office of the Ohio Attorney General that focuses on the office's major appellate cases...
Jeffrey Sutton
Jeffrey Sutton
Jeffrey S. Sutton is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.- Early life :Sutton received his B.A. from Williams College in 1983...
defended the state.
Pittner reiterated arguments that unequal funding and dilapidated buildings left some students with less opportunity than others. Sutton conceded that there were problems with the system, but he argued that they should be fixed locally, not by the court. He said that the state constitution guaranteed students an education for free, not the best possible education for free.
Justices peppered both sides with questions, asking whether anyone should be held to account for funding inadequacies and focusing also on school facilities around the state, which Pittner noted were sometimes in such poor condition that they didn't even meet the state's minimum standards for a humane prison.
The decision
By the time the justicesAssociate Justice
Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...
adjourned to deliberate, two justices, Andrew Douglas
Andrew Douglas
Andrew Grant Douglas is a former Republican justice of the Ohio Supreme Court who served in that office from 1985 to 2002.-See also:*Ohio Supreme Court**List of Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court...
and Paul Pfeifer
Paul Pfeifer
Paul E. Pfeifer is an American politician of the Ohio Republican party. He served in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly and is currently an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio....
, had decided that the funding system was unconstitutional and needed to be changed. Meanwhile, Justice Deborah L. Cook was adamant that the court should not be involved in school funding decisions and "never budged from that position," though neither side had made that claim.
A majority emerged among Justices Douglas, Pfeifer, Alice Robie Resnick
Alice Robie Resnick
Alice Robie Resnick is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. In 1988, she was the second woman in Ohio elected and third to serve on the state bench, and was reelected in 1994 and 2000...
, and Francis E. Sweeney, Sr. Meanwhile, Chief Justice Moyer and Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton
Evelyn Lundberg Stratton
Evelyn Lundberg Stratton is an American jurist. She is currently a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court.- Background and education :Evelyn Lundberg Stratton was born to missionary parents in Bangkok, Thailand on February 25, 1953...
indicated they were likely to join Cook, but they expressed more flexibility depending on the language of the majority opinion
Legal opinion
In law, an opinion is usually a written explanation by a judge or group of judges that accompanies an order or ruling in a case, laying out the rationale and legal principles for the ruling....
, which was randomly assigned to Sweeney. Although formal deliberations had only lasted about a half-hour, the justices continued to discuss the case one-on-one, as Sweeney tried to coax Moyer and Stratton into the majority.
But in the end, the decision was carried by the narrow, 4-3 majority that emerged after oral arguments. The March 24, 1997, ruling:
- found the funding scheme for elementary and secondary education to be unconstitutional;
- ordered an end to the "school foundation program" and the reliance on property taxes for school funding;
- provided the state 12 months to solve the problem;
- awarded attorney's feeAttorney's feeAttorney's fee is a chiefly United States term for compensation for legal services performed by an attorney for a client, in or out of court. It may be an hourly, flat-rate or contingent fee. Attorney fees are separate from fines, compensatory and punitive damages, and from court costs in a...
s to the plaintiffs; and - remanded the case to the trial judge.
Resnick, Pfeifer and Douglas each wrote separate concurring opinions. For the minority, Moyer's dissent
Dissenting opinion
A dissenting opinion is an opinion in a legal case written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment....
acknowledged problems with school funding but questioned whether they actually violated the state constitution and argued that they were matters for the legislature to handle.
Reaction
The next day, Gov. George VoinovichGeorge Voinovich
George Victor Voinovich is a former United States Senator from the state of Ohio, and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served as the 65th Governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998, and as the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989.-Personal life:Born in Cleveland, Ohio, his father was...
, Senate President Richard H. Finan and House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson
Jo Ann Davidson
Jo Ann Davidson is the chair of the Ohio Casino Control Commission and was Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1995–2000....
called a press conference
News conference
A news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions. A joint press conference instead is held between two or more talking sides.-Practice:...
to denounce the ruling. Voinovich suggested that his administration
Administration (government)
The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "Barack Obama administration." It can also mean an executive branch agency...
might defy the decision, and he classified the ruling as "judicial activism
Judicial activism
Judicial activism describes judicial ruling suspected of being based on personal or political considerations rather than on existing law. It is sometimes used as an antonym of judicial restraint. The definition of judicial activism, and which specific decisions are activist, is a controversial...
" and "a thinly veiled call for a massive, multi-billion tax increase."
Editorial board
Editorial board
The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...
s at the largest papers in the state joined in — perhaps prodded by the governor's aides — arguing that the decision put too much power in the hands of an unknown rural judge, echoing complaints by Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
lawmakers. The Plain Dealer wrote that "almost any other outcome would have been preferable." The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since The Columbus Citizen-Journal stopped printing in 1985....
called the ruling "one highly injudicious lurch" and dismissed claims that most districts in the state were underfunded. The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati (Ohio) and Northern Kentucky. The...
went as far as calling for a constitutional amendment
Constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a formal change to the text of the written constitution of a nation or state.Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation...
that would trump the ruling, saying that otherwise, "education policy for 11 million Ohio residents will be dictated in a rural flyspeck on the state map."
The next week, the state filed a motion to reconsider
Reconsider
In parliamentary law, reconsideration of a motion takes places upon a motion to bring back for further consideration a matter previously decided...
, asking the court (1) whether property taxes could still be used to fund schools at all; (2) whether school funding debts remained valid even though repayment provisions extended beyond the court's deadline to find a new funding system; and (3) to retain jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
over the case instead of sending it back to the trial court. The coalition opposed the motion, saying that the ruling was clear enough and that the state needed to instead get about the business of providing additional funding.
Later that month, the court issued a ruling clarifying that property taxes could still be used if they were not the primary revenue source for school funding; that debts remained valid; and that the case would return to the trial judge, but that appeals of his decision would bypass the Court of Appeals and go directly back to the Ohio Supreme Court.