Abstract
This article examines the vitality of equity arguments in lawsuits that include rural school districts. Part II briefly explores the importance of a special consideration of the achievement of equal education opportunity in rural schools. Part III reviews and explains the nature of equity claims as a means to challenge funding formulas that provide basic state aid to school districts and compares the use of adequacy claims as a litigation strategy. This part also argues that there are not three distinct waves of school finance litigation. Part IV addresses the equity based theories in more detail, examines two specific cases—Brigham v. Vermont and Campbell County School District v. Wyoming—and discusses the implications of these and other cases for future school litigation and reform involving rural school districts. Part V concludes that litigation may not be the most productive avenue for reform in all situations and that strategies must include a consideration of the role of the political branches of government both on the state and federal levels in the pursuit for equity in education for rural schools.
Recommended Citation
Anna Williams Shavers,
Rethinking the Equity vs. Adequacy Debate: Implications for Rural School Finance Reform Litigation,
82 Neb. L. Rev.
(2003)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol82/iss1/6