Adequacy Litigation: Alive and Well

To the Editor:

Alfred A. Lindseth’s Commentary opining that educational adequacy victories “may be drawing to an end” perhaps reflects his wishes more than reality ( “A Reversal of Fortunes: Why the Courts Have Cooled to Adequacy Lawsuits,” Sept. 12, 2007 ). As an attorney who defends states charged with inadequate funding, he naturally has a keen eye for evidence supporting his perspective. Alas, he cherry-picks his examples. If we look at all adequacy decisions since Kentucky’s Rose v. Council for Better Education in 1989, the states’ highest courts have ruled against states by better than a 2-to-1 margin.

Educational adequacy studies are losing credibility, says Mr. Lindseth. We would expect him, as a courtroom lawyer, to attack the credibility of testimony adverse to his side. However, if judged by their increase in quality and quantity, adequacy studies are gaining credibility. There are numerous such studies by a wide variety of authors. In comparing ones released before and after 2005, the later studies are more sophisticated and use multiple methods. And they say we need a lot more money if every child is...