Legislature to ask high court to withdraw deadlines
The Legislature will officially ask the state Supreme Court to withdraw its timeline for fixing South Carolina’s public education system, though the high court’s answer may mean little. Legislative leaders insist the General Assembly will follow its own path, regardless.
The chambers’ leaders call the high court’s Feb. 1 deadline for issuing a plan both impossible and unfair, considering that the case languished in the courts for 21 years.
The Sept. 24 order is “extremely misguided,” House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, recently told The Associated Press.
The Legislature has until Monday to appeal. While that will be an official court filing, Lucas and Senate President Pro Tem Hugh Leatherman have already railed against the timeline in a letter that was hand-delivered to Chief Justice Jean Toal.
“An arbitrary timeline set by a court under an unconstitutional directive will not deter us,” they wrote on Sept. 29.
Lucas said the leaders felt that was the best way to effectively communicate their position, since last month’s order came without a hearing.
It followed the court’s ruling last fall that the state’s decades-old, piecemeal funding scheme fails to provide students in poor, rural districts the opportunity to succeed. Siding with districts that sued the state in 1993, the justices told legislators and school officials to collectively fix the problem but gave no clear instructions or timeline.
Last month’s order came after attorneys for the districts asked for more direction.
Otherwise, a solution may be many more years away, said Carl Epps, an attorney for the districts.
Lucas insists no deadlines are necessary. Epps disagrees, though he’s said he’s willing to discuss an adjustment.
“I think everybody’s going to benefit by a timeline, including members of state government,” Epps said Friday. “It makes the body focused.”
One of the court’s deadlines has already come and gone. Under last month’s order, a three-person panel of experts, to include state Superintendent Molly Spearman, was supposed to be in place by Thursday to guide the process. It’s supposed to review the Legislature’s plan, as well as the districts’ response, and submit a report to the high court by March 15.
Lucas said that suggests justices didn’t realize the progress being made by 17-member task force he created last January, which includes House members, business leaders and educators – including Spearman. Its chairwoman, Rep. Rita Allison, said the group is on schedule to submit recommendations by Lucas’ January deadline.
“What the House has in place is clearly superior to what the court is trying to establish,” Lucas said.
He said he fears a court-created panel will actually block debate because legislators will complain that the court is usurping their authority.
In a letter to Epps last month, Lucas said districts’ June motion requesting the timeline showed school officials weren’t working with legislators in good faith. The speaker said district representatives would be removed from the task force unless Epps asked the high court to rescind its timeline.
Epps hasn’t. No one has been booted. Both Epps and the speaker’s office say discussions continue.
“We want plaintiff districts to participate,” Lucas said. “They are a vital cog in trying to resolve the issues. It’s a benefit to everyone that all of us continue.”
Epps agrees the House task force is making progress but notes any legislation will have to get through both chambers.
The Senate also created a study committee, composed entirely of senators, to come up with recommendations. It’s expected to meet again this month.
“The South Carolina Supreme Court took 21 years to adjudicate this issue,” while its deadline requires a plan within three weeks of the Legislature’s start next year, said Senate Education Chairman John Courson, R-Columbia. He called that almost an “impossibility” to accomplish.
This story was originally published October 18, 2015 at 11:06 PM with the headline "Legislature to ask high court to withdraw deadlines."