MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - A spokesman said that Attorney General Jay Nixon will reject a court compromise that would have postponed a lawsuit against the state's school funding system.
"His job as attorney general is to defend the laws of the state of Missouri and the current funding formula is the law," said Jim Gardner, press secretary for the attorney general's office.
Nixon had requested a delay in the case, filed by about one-half of the state's school districts, to give the legislature time to come up with an alternative.
Last week, the Cole County Circuit Court offered a compromise -- to grant the stay if the attorney general would acknowledge the unconstitutionality of the current funding system.
Judge Richard Callahan gave the attorney general 15 days to make a decision.
Gardner said the attorney general will most likely make a formal announcement to defend the current formula towards the end of the 15-day period.
Plaintiffs representing over 250 Missouri school districts would have accepted a concession by the state, however, the attorney general is taking a strong stance on defending the current formula.
"I think it would be a lot easier if they would concede it," said Alex Bartlett, attorney for the Committee for Educational Equality, the primary plaintiff in the lawsuit.
"The legislature would actually know at that juncture that that position had been taken so I think they'd be more prone to act in a positive manner," he said.
The motion to delay the case was originally filed by the attorney general with the intent of giving the newly elected Republican governor and a Republican majority General Assembly the chance to write a new formula.
Spence Jackson, spokesman for the governor-elect said that Matt Blunt hoped for a longer delay in the case.
"We've already held discussions with members of the legislature," said Jackson. "They've been more general in nature at this point."
With the case proceeding as usual, the passage of a newly written funding formula by the legislature, may replace the current formula bringing an end to the case, said Gardner.
"A letter supporting a stay to work on the formula was signed by both the minority leader and the head of each chamber," said Gardner. "Legislative leadership on both sides of the aisle said they were committed to finding a solution for this."