Court Overturns Montana Funding System

State Told to Define ‘Quality’ Education and Spend Accordingly

In the legislative session that begins in January, Montana lawmakers will be under the gun to come up with a definition for a “quality” public education, following the Montana Supreme Court’s decision last week to strike down the state’s school funding formula.

While it held that the financing system is fatally flawed, the court said the question of whether Montana schools have enough money can’t be resolved until the system is based on “educationally relevant factors.” For that to happen, the court found, the legislature needs to interpret the meaning of the state constitution’s reference to “a basic system of free quality public elementary and secondary schools.”

In a unanimous decision on Nov. 9, the state’s highest court gave the legislature a deadline of Oct. 1 of next year to come up with a better system. In doing so, it upheld the ruling in April of Helena District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock that state funding for public schools is insufficient. The three-page preliminary order also upheld Judge Sherlock’s finding that the public education system is violating a mandate in the state constitution for schools to teach children about the...