Policy Backgrounders

Courts Rule State School Funding Unconstitutional

December 20, 2023

Funding from states and localities is the primary funding source for public K-12 education in the US. This year saw significant legal activity regarding how states must fund education.

• The year opened with a historic decision on February 7 from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court that declared the state's school funding system unconstitutional after a nearly decade-long legal battle, where several school districts and local advocacy groups filed suit against the state, claiming the school funding system to be inadequate, inequitable, and unconstitutional.
• On November 20, a New Hampshire Superior Court judge delivered a similar ruling finding that New Hampshire was falling short of its constitutional requirement to provide an adequate education to its students.  The case filed more than four years earlier, challenging the state's fidelity to its constitutional obligation to fund education.
• Over the past few decades, only three states have been spared legal battles that call into question whether states are making sufficient effort to fund education. This issue is particularly relevant as the sizeable, one-time federal school stabilization funding enacted to help schools mitigate and recover from the pandemic expires next year and pressure mounts for states to buffer the transition for local school districts.
• At the same time, many state revenue forecasts signal a decline for 2024.