Citing their region's pricey housing market and booming student enrollment, Eastern Panhandle educators plan to sue state school officials over their cost-of-living allotments, The Journal of Martinsburg reports.
The state Board of Education was given 30 days' advance notice of the proposed class action lawsuit, the newspaper reports.
"The lawsuit is the latest development following long-simmering complaints from teachers and school service personnel in Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson counties who have seen the purchasing power of their salaries erode as the Eastern Panhandle’s cost of living and student populations continue to climb."
02 May 2007
W.Va. Board of Ed Facing Lawsuit Threat
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The recent State Supreme Court decision invalidating library funding requirements on some counties could be valuable precedent for these educators. The decision suggested that almost any kind of serious funding inequality between counties is unconstitutional, regardless of the cause and regardless of whether or not the children are actually getting a substantially inferior education compared to kids in other counties.
But will the State Supreme Court stick to this position, or will it wimp out in the face of political fear of getting in the middle of a major sectional pissing match?
The "constitutional law" in this area is a world-class muddle and mess, with no consistent principles guiding the courts.
The original Recht decision had a powerful and positive effect, because children were paying a terrible price for legislative inaction, but the history of school funding since the Recht case is that courts are a blunt instrument at best to work out the problems of school funding, where local economies vary so widely.
The actual law at issue (W. Va. Code §18-2-31) only requires the state board to consult with the development office and develop a plan to address teacher pay in areas of the state facing extraordinary growth or where the cost of living is significantly higher. However, the most interesting thing to me is that everyone seems to forget that it is the legislature, not the state board, that sets teacher salaries. The state board can come up with all the plans it wants but the legislature is free to ignore the plan and pay teachers the way it sees fit. So, aside from causing the state to spend money in lawyer fees, what can the ultimate end of this lawsuit be?
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