Opinion ID: 2077353
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the state responds

Text: The State moved to dismiss under Neb. Ct. R. of Pldg. in Civ. Actions 12(b)(1) and (6) (rev.2003). At a hearing on the motion, the State submitted several exhibits. A report from the Board of State Canvassers of the State of Nebraska showed that in 1996, the voters had rejected, by a vote of 506,246 to 146,426, an initiative that, in relevant part, would have amended the Nebraska Constitution. The amendment would have made `quality education' ... a fundamental constitutional right of each person and made the `thorough and efficient education' of all persons between the ages of 5 and 21 in the common schools. . . the `paramount duty' of the state. A report from the State Department of Education showed that total expenditures for Nebraska public education in the 2002-03 school year was about $2.15 billion. The State's biennial budget for fiscal years 2003-04 and 2004-05 showed that the Legislature continued reductions in school aid from the year before through 2007. The budget also shows that without an extension of the changes in the school aid formula, state aid to schools would have increased by $175 million in fiscal years 2005-06 and 2006-07. Both parties submitted materials on the history of the Nebraska Constitution.