[Vision2020] Stop Passing the Buck on Facilities Lawsuit

[Bev Bafus]

I was on the Whitepine school board when the original lawsuit was filed.  My
kids were in pre-school and grade school at the time.

They are now a freshman in college, and two twenty-somethings in the work
force.

Idaho's kids have been given the shaft long enough!!!!!

Bev Bafus


-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 12:45 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Stop Passing the Buck on Facilities Lawsuit


>From today's (May 9, 2008) Moscow-Pullman Daily News -

-------------------------------------------

OUR VIEW: Stop passing the buck on facilities lawsuit
By Murf Raquet

There are those who felt the lengthy school facilities lawsuit was settled
when a district court judge ruled Idaho was constitutionally obligated to
provide the money to districts to build and maintain safe school
facilities.

Many held their breath when the inevitable appeal process started and
finally held out hope when the case went to the state Supreme Court.

Bupkis, nada, zero. That's what Idaho taxpayers received.

Now, a federal judge wants to take another look at his recent ruling in
the case. His decision will do little to settle the case that's taken too
long already.

The lawsuit was filed in the last century and now is 18 years old. Someone
born the year it was filed would be graduating this spring from one of the
schools with inadequate facilities.

We don't expect the wheels of justice to spin fast. Thoroughness is
greatly appreciated, but taking so long to determine how to fix the
funding problem since the case was decided at the district level is a
blatant example of buck passing.

In 2005, the case arrived at the state Supreme Court. The justices sided
with the districts, and most of us thought the case was finally settled
and lawmakers would set about what they should have been doing for years -
funding school buildings.

Wrong again. The justices offered no road map to fix the problem.

In June, the districts filed suit against the high court asking for the
remedy phase in the case.

In February, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill sort of decided in
favor of the districts when he refused a request by the Supreme Court to
dismiss the case.

Last week the good judge announced he will reconsider his ruling. He then
said whatever he decides, the case will end up in the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.

What began as a question of constitutional interpretation has turned into
a political hot potato.

Between the courts and the Legislature, the ongoing dispute should be
settled soon. Idahoans cannot be expected to endure facilities lawsuit,
the next generation.

-------------------------------------------

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"People who ridicule others while hiding behind anonymous monikers in chat-
room forums are neither brave nor clever."

- Latah County Sheriff Wayne Rausch (August 21,
2007)

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