Opinion ID: 2614064
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: infringement of local school boards' authority under article 6, ง 5.

Text: Article 6, ง 5 of the Kansas Constitution provides: Local public schools under the general supervision of the state board of education shall be maintained, developed, and operated by locally elected boards. When authorized by law, such boards may make and carry out agreements for cooperative operation and administration of educational programs under the general supervision of the state board of education, but such agreements shall be subject to limitation, change or termination by the legislature. It is argued that the Act is violative of Article 6 in that the imposition of the statewide tax levy, the restriction on the local option budget, and the diminution of each school district's budget authority impermissibly infringes on the local control provision. Fiscal control is argued to be an integral part of local control. We do not agree. Article 6, ง 6(b) provides in pertinent part: (b) The legislature shall make suitable provision for finance of the educational interests of the state. No tuition shall be charged for attendance at any public school to pupils required by law to attend such school, except such fees or supplemental charges as may be authorized by law. (Emphasis supplied.) The proponents of the claims made in this issue would, in effect, rewrite งง 5 and 6 to require the State to provide direct financial aid or the means to raise tax monies sufficient to cover what each school district determines is suitable financing for the particular district's needs. Under this rationale, the legislature would have little or no role in the determination of what amount of finance was suitable for a particular district. In Chicago, R.I. & P. Rly. Co. v. Nichols, 130 Kan. 509, 512, 287 Pac. 262 (1930), this court stated: Since the constitution places the responsibility for providing a system of education upon the legislature, it logically follows that a school district created by the legislature has no inherent power of taxation. It must look to the legislature for its rights to raise funds by taxation, and has only such power to levy, assess and collect taxes as is clearly granted by the legislature. Although Nichols predates our present constitution, its holding is equally applicable today. Article 6, ง 1 places the responsibility of establishing and maintaining a public school system on the State. Kansas school districts have no inherent power of taxation and never have had. They have always been funded through legislation. Far from supporting the proponents' arguments herein, the 1966 amendment of Article 6, ง 6 specifically placed the suitable financing responsibility with the legislature. L. 1966, ch. 10. Article 6, งง 1 and 2 are pertinent to this discussion and provide: ง 1. The legislature shall provide for intellectual, educational, vocational and scientific improvement by establishing and maintaining public schools, educational institutions and related activities which may be organized and changed in such manner as may be provided by law. ง 2. (a) The legislature shall provide for a state board of education which shall have general supervision of public schools, educational institutions and all the educational interests of the state, except educational functions delegated by law to the state board of regents. The state board of education shall perform such other duties as may be provided by law. In U.S.D. No. 380 v. McMillen, 252 Kan. 451, 845 P.2d 676 (1993), at issue was the apparent conflict between Article 6, งง 1 and 5. The former places responsibility for maintaining public schools with the legislature, while the latter places it with the locally elected school boards. The challenged statute (K.S.A. 72-5443) provides for a hearing panel to make a final decision on the firing of a teacher, subject to judicial review. In upholding the statute, we said: It appears clear that the legislature under ง 1 of Article 6 has the broad duty of establishing the public school system. The local school board's duties under ง 5 of Article 6 are not self-executing but are dependent upon statutory enactments of the legislature. However, we do not imply that the legislature has carte blanche over the duties and actions of local school boards. The respective duties and obligations vested in the legislature and the local school boards by the Kansas Constitution must be read together and harmonized so both entities may carry out their respective obligations. In considering the competing provisions, we do not find that the statute in question is so unreasonable that it unduly interferes with or hamstrings the local school board in performing its constitutional duty to maintain, develop, and operate the local public school system. When viewed as this court must, under the presumption of constitutionality and with all doubts resolved in favor of the statute's validity, it cannot be said K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 72-5443 `infringes beyond substantial doubt' upon ง 5 of Article 6 of the Kansas Constitution. See Bair v. Peck, 248 Kan. 824, 811 P.2d 1176 (1991); Samsel v. Wheeler Transport Services, Inc., 246 Kan. 336, 789 P.2d 541 (1990). 252 Kan. at 464. The argument is also made herein that a school board's duties under ง 5 of Article 6 are self-executing. McMillen specifically held they were not and is controlling herein. The proponents on this issue cite decisions from other jurisdictions which have held fiscal control inherent in a school board's local control over its district. As the district court appropriately noted, none of these decisions involved constitutional provisions comparable to those in Article 6 and, accordingly, are not persuasive. Utilizing the appropriate judicial review standards previously enunciated, we conclude, as did the district court, that the Act does not violate Article 6, ง 5 of the Kansas Constitution in the asserted particulars. The legislature, in exercising its power to finance public schools, did not unduly impede the power of locally elected boards to establish, operate, and maintain schools.