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Brigham v. State9/12/2005
ENTRY ORDER
1. Plaintiffs, a group of public-school students and a group of taxpayers, appeal a superior court decision dismissing their complaint pursuant to Vermont Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiff students contend that Act 60 fails to protect their right to an equal educational opportunity under the Vermont Constitution. Plaintiff taxpayers assert that Act 60's method of taxation to fund education violates their rights under the Vermont Constitution because it imposes a disproportionate burden upon the taxpayers in their towns compared to similarly situated taxpayers in other towns. The superior court dismissed both claims on grounds of judicial self-restraint. We reverse the superior court's decision, and remand for further proceedings.
2. Plaintiff students are four children who attend Whitingham School, Wilmington Middle High School, and Chester-Andover Elementary School. They argue that the State has failed to provide them with a substantially equal educational opportunity in violation of Chapter I, Article 7 and Chapter II, ยง 68 of the Vermont Constitution, and seek an injunction and declaration that Act 60 is unconstitutional. They argue that the Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1997 (Act 60), does not remedy the inequality of educational opportunity that we identified in Brigham v. State. 166 Vt. 246, 268, 692 A.2d 384, 397 (1997) (Brigham I). Because of non-discretionary expenditures on special education, transportation, and the school facilities themselves, plaintiffs allege that the school districts have less money available to fund instruction and curriculum. Plaintiffs contend that the curriculum offered at Whitingham School is inadequate because it is so limited. They also assert that Wilmington Middle High School's facilities are in substandard condition and insufficient funds are available under the current education-funding scheme for replacement. The students argue that these deficiencies demonstrate the State's failure to provide them with a substantially equal educational opportunity compared to the educational opportunities of students in other public school districts, which offer more curriculum choices and have modern facilities.
3. Plaintiff taxpayers are ten property owners who reside in Whitingham, Wilmington, and Andover, and pay local and state education taxes to their respective towns. The taxpayers allege that they pay disproportionately high state and local education taxes compared to similarly situated taxpayers of other Vermont towns. They also allege that because the State is inadequately funding education under Act 60, they are forced to pay higher education taxes than other taxpayers who own property of the same value and have identical adjusted gross incomes. They assert that this disparate treatment violates their rights under Chapter I, Article 9 of the Vermont Constitution. They seek an injunction and declaration that Act 60 is unconstitutional.
4. The State moved to dismiss the complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, Rule 12(b)(1) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and Rule 12(b)(7) for failure to join indispensable parties. The State argued that the court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction because plaintiffs lacked standing and because plaintiffs' claims were moot. The State contended that plaintiffs' case was mooted by Act 68, which was passed after plaintiffs filed their complaint, because Act 68 established new methods of funding education that ameliorated the deficiencies that plaintiffs alleged were present in Act 60. The State also argued that the consolidation of the Whi
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