Coalition aims to reopen state school funding case

The group's director said there's no enforcement of the state court's ruling.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- The coalition of school districts that sued the state 12 years ago over how it pays for education planned to turn to the U.S. Supreme Court today.
The Coalition for Equity & amp; Adequacy in School Funding said it will ask the nation's top court for permission to file a federal appeal in an attempt to reopen the case.
The coalition wants the U.S. Supreme Court to order the Ohio Supreme Court to reopen the case so that Gov. Bob Taft and lawmakers could be forced to comply with the state court's previous rulings to fix the funding system.
In May, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 5-2 to end the 1991 school funding case that led Ohio to spend billions of additional dollars on schools. The court had ruled three times in five years that the state's educational system was unconstitutional because it created disparities between rich and poor districts.
The court ordered state officials to fix the system, but it then gave up jurisdiction in the case and blocked any further action on it in the state court system.
Main issue
The lack of a means to enforce the state court's ruling will be the main issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, William Phillis, the coalition's executive director, said Wednesday. Phillis said the state Supreme Court ruled the system unconstitutional and then provided no means of enforcing its rulings.
The group has to ask for permission to file a federal appeal because the school funding case originated in the state court system. In most cases, plaintiffs aren't allowed to automatically appeal a state court case directly to the federal courts.
The U.S. Supreme Court allows appeals in only a small percentage of cases in which there is no direct federal appeal allowed.
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