New Book Influences Supreme Court Decision

Although it has just hit the bookstores, Schoolhouses, Courthouses and Statehouses: Solving the Funding-Achievement Puzzle in America’s Public Schools, is already having a major impact. On June 25, 2009, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in Horne v. Flores in which the Court reversed a federal court order requiring the Arizona legislature to substantially increase funding for education. Citing Schoolhouses, Courthouses and Statehouses for the proposition that such “court-imposed funding mandates” have not been very successful in improving student achievement, the Court overturned the lower courts’ funding order. The majority opinion also cited several other research articles written by Schoolhouses, Courthouses and Statehouses’ co-author, Eric Hanushek, in support of its decision.

Hanushek said that the decision is likely to have a significant impact on school funding litigation, given the Supreme Court’s acceptance of many of the arguments that he and Lindseth make in their book. He said “the courts have recognized there is a lot more to reforming our public schools than simply increasing the amount of funds they have to spend. More fundamental reforms, of the type we propose in our book, are necessary.”

A major part of the Court’s opinion was directing attention to outcomes and achievement as opposed to incremental funding. This judgment is entirely consistent with an emphasis on accountability and results while at the same time granting local districts considerable autonomy in how they achieve high levels of performance.

Al Lindseth indicated that he was aware that the book had been brought to the attention of the Supreme Court in one of the numerous amicus (friend of the court) briefs that had been submitted, but that it is very rare for the Court to rely on such amicus briefs or the arguments in them. Needless to say, he was pleased that the Court had made an exception in this case.