Brief Filed in Case Challenging Constitutionality of Idaho School Funding

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho has filed a brief in a lawsuit over Idaho's school funding system to urge a judge to find that the state's method of paying for schools is still as unconstitutional as the Idaho Supreme Court found it to be back in 2005.

The friend-of-the-court brief was filed by the ACLU last week in the lawsuit between former Nampa Schools Superintendent Russell Joki and the state. Joki contends that fees assessed for classes and supplies violate Idaho's constitutional promise of a free public education, and that the Legislature's tweaks to the funding system in recent years have made the problem worse.

The state says the courts don't have the authority to modify the school funding system and that responsibility lies with the Legislature alone.