Florida school districts are divided over a finance lawsuit that a state trial judge is allowing to go forward. The suit challenges the state’s recently revised school aid formula.
Under changes made earlier this year by the legislature, the 338,000-student Miami-Dade County district will lose $14 million this school year, and then even more in each of the next two years. Almost half the state’s 67 school systems are in a similar situation, though the rest will come out with more than they would have.
After dismissing part of the lawsuit filed by urban school districts, Circuit Court Judge P. Kevin Davey, in Tallahassee, ruled Nov. 18 that the case could go to trial.
“What you have is that half the districts lose and half win. The state is split,” said Wayne Blanton, the executive director of the Florida School Boards Association. He said the situation could be resolved by the legislature in the 2005 session.
