Title: School Adm. Dist. No. 1 v. Com'r Educ.
Citation: 659 A.2d 854
Docket Number: 
State: Maine
Issuer: Maine Supreme Court
Date: June 7, 1995

Decided June 7, 1995. *855 Peter Cary and Robert E. Mittel (orally), Mittel, Asen, Eggert, Hunter & Cary, Portland, for plaintiffs. Peter H. Stewart (orally), Asst. Atty. Gen., Augusta, for defendant. Before WATHEN, C.J., and ROBERTS, GLASSMAN, CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA and LIPEZ, JJ. WATHEN, Chief Justice. The plaintiffs, eighty-three school administrative districts and three students, appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Mills, J.) denying their equal protection challenge to the constitutionality of funding reductions implemented pursuant to the School Finance Act. 20-A M.R.S.A. §§ 15601-15621 (1993 & Supp.1994). Finding no error, we affirm the judgment. The Act's Funding Formula The Act provides a method for sharing the cost of public education between the state and local school units. The statutory formula is complex, but essentially it provides for a foundation level of spending per pupil that is based on the average of the actual local operating costs of all school units in the state, separated into elementary and secondary students. 20-A M.R.S.A. §§ 15603(13), 15605(2)(A), 15607(1). The total allocation for a particular school unit, the foundation level multiplied by the number of pupils, is apportioned between the state subsidy and the local share. 20-A M.R.S.A. §§ 15609, 15610. The Commissioner of Education each year recommends to the Legislature a total state expenditure for education and the associated statewide mill rates to be used in the funding calculations. 20-A M.R.S.A. § 15605. The local share of the operating costs, for example, is calculated by applying the mill rate set by the Legislature each year and the state property valuations for each *856 municipality. 20-A M.R.S.A. §§ 15607(2), 15609. The result of the funding formula is best illustrated by a simplified hypothetical. We assume that there are two school units with the same number of pupils. The municipalities in School Unit A have one million dollars in property valuation while those in Unit B have two million in property valuation. Multiplying the statewide mill rate by each unit's property valuation results in a local share for operating costs for School Unit A that is one-half that of Unit B. A unit with less property value per pupil generates fewer dollars from the mill rate used in calculating the local share and thus receives a proportionately higher state subsidy than a unit with higher property values per pupil. It follows that a unit with a proportionately higher state subsidy would lose proportionately more funding from a percentage reduction in the state subsidy.[1] Plaintiffs' Challenge to Funding Reductions In fiscal years (FY) 1991 through 1994, reductions in the state subsidy occurred as a result of the state's inability to pay the total sum recommended by the Commissioner of Education. The Legislature reduced the total state expenditure primarily on a percentage basis, and amended the Act to reduce each school unit's subsidy by the same percentage.[2] Plaintiffs brought an action against the Commissioner of Education challenging on the ground of equal protection the percentage funding reductions made in the state subsidies.[3] At trial, plaintiffs challenged the manner in which the available funds for education were distributed. They did not challenge the adequacy of the education in their school units. Testimony at trial principally involved comparisons of the equity or fairness of the school finance system after the funding reductions compared to the equity before the reductions.[4] Plaintiffs' expert witness, Dr. James Guthrie, presented a series of equity measurements to determine disparities in per pupil revenues. He concluded that Maine's school finance distribution had become substantially less equitable over the period of funding reductions. Defendant's expert witness, Dr. John Augenblick, who examined equity using expenditure data, could not draw a conclusion that the funding reductions had an impact on the equity of the funding system. The court found that the challenged amendments implementing the *857 funding reductions were constitutional, and entered a judgment for defendant. Plaintiffs appeal. Equal Protection Plaintiffs contend that the straight percentage reduction enacted by the Legislature violates the plaintiffs' right to equal protection under the Maine Constitution. They argue that education is a fundamental right, and that, therefore, strict scrutiny is the proper standard of review, and accordingly that the court incorrectly relied on a rational basis analysis. The Maine Constitution guarantees that "[n]o person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws." Art. I, § 6-A. Our equal protection guarantee is co-extensive with the guarantee in the United States Constitution, Peters v. Saft, 597 A.2d 50 , 52 n. 1 (Me.1991), and we employ similar methods of analysis. If a challenged statute infringes a fundamental constitutional right or involves an inherently suspect classification such as race or religion, it is subject to analysis under the strict scrutiny standard. Tri-State Rubbish v. New Gloucester, 634 A.2d 1284 , 1287 (Me.1993). That standard requires that the challenged action be narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling governmental interest. Butler v. Supreme Judicial Court, 611 A.2d 987 , 992 (Me.1992). If a challenged statute involves neither a fundamental right nor a suspect class, different treatment accorded to similarly situated persons need only be rationally related to a legitimate state interest. Aseptic Packaging Council v. State, 637 A.2d 457 , 459 (Me.1994); Mahaney v. State, 610 A.2d 738 , 743 (Me.1992). When reviewed under a rational basis standard, a statute bears a strong presumption of validity. Aseptic Packaging, 637 A.2d at 460, and the party challenging the statute has the burden of proving that no conceivable state of facts exists to support the legislative action. Id. at 459-60. We conclude that the Superior Court selected the appropriate standard of review, and correctly applied the rational basis analysis to the challenged parts of the Act. The issue before us does not involve an inherently suspect classification, and we need not address whether education is a fundamental right under the Maine Constitution because the plaintiffs' argument fails even if education is such a fundamental right. Plaintiffs presented no evidence at trial that any disparities in funding resulted in their students receiving an inadequate education. Rather, plaintiffs challenged under equal protection law the method by which funding reductions were implemented. There is no provision in the Maine Constitution guaranteeing a certain level of state funding of education or equitable funding. To the contrary, the Maine Constitution requires only that the State enforce the municipal obligation to support public education. A general diffusion of the advantages of education being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people; to promote this important object, the Legislature are authorized, and it shall be their duty to require, the several towns to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the support and maintenance of public schools. Me. Const. art. VIII, pt. 1, § 1 (emphasis added). Even if we were to conclude that education is a fundamental right in Maine, plaintiffs offer no authority for the proposition that they have a fundamental right under the Maine Constitution to state funding, a particular mechanism for state funding, or a particular method for reducing state funding.[5] *858 We apply the rational basis test and affirm the court's finding that the funding reductions in the Act are rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest.[6] The Act departs from the foundation formula for the reductions in funding (compared to the levels recommended by the Commissioner) for fiscal years 1991 through 1994. The original Act did not address how such "funding reductions" would be accomplished. In each shortfall year, the Legislature amended the Act to establish the reduced funding level, and in most cases, specified how the reduction was to be accomplished. 20-A M.R.S.A. § 15602(4)-(8); 15603 (11-A), (26-A); 15610(1)(C), (E), (F); P.L. 1991, ch. 121, pt. A, § A-9. The Act as a whole, including the provisions for reductions from recommended levels of funding, continues to further a legitimate state goal of subsidizing the local communities' efforts to provide resources for education, but to do so within available state revenues. Moreover, the Superior Court did not clearly err in failing to find that the funding reductions in the Act made Maine's system less equitable.[7] Although, as we have stated on other occasions, "education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments," Blount v. Department of Educ. and Cultural Serv., 551 A.2d 1377 , 1381 (Me.1988) (quoting Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 , 493, 74 S. Ct. 686, 691, 98 L. Ed. 873 (1954)), under our Constitution, the level of state support is largely a matter for the Legislature. Therefore, whether the funding reduction amendments to the School Finance Act are wise or not, and whether they are the best means to achieve the desired result, is a matter for the Legislature and not this Court. *859 The entry is: Judgment affirmed. All concurring.