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Brigham v. State9/12/2005
however, a court should be reluctant to dismiss a plaintiff's claims, and should not consider the merits of whether a plaintiff's claims will ultimately succeed. See Sprague, 145 Vt. at 446-47, 494 A.2d at 125 ("A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is not favored and rarely granted."); Golden v. G.C. Belden, 754 F.2d 1059, 1067 (2d Cir. 1985) ("The court's function on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is not to weigh the evidence that might be presented at a trial but merely to determine whether the complaint itself is legally sufficient."); 5B C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure ยง 1356 (3d ed. 2004) (stating that a Rule 12(b)(6) motion "is not a procedure for resolving a contest between the parties about the facts or the substantive merits of the plaintiff's case.").
13. The State first argues that plaintiffs have not met their burden under Rule 12(b)(6) because their allegations fail to demonstrate that they receive an unequal educational opportunity compared to students attending other Vermont school districts. To support their claim that the State has violated their constitutional right to an equal educational opportunity under Brigham I, the students alleged that the State does not provide adequate funding for education. The students argued that because of Act 60's inadequate funding, their schools do not have enough money to spend on curriculum. They alleged that Whitingham School offers its high-school students such limited curriculum choices that many students have taken all offered courses by their senior year and fill their schedule with gym classes. They compared the number of course offerings at Whitingham with that of Essex High School to show that students in Essex have substantially greater curriculum choices. We emphasize that at this early stage in litigation, we do not consider the merits of these allegations, but consider only whether these allegations are sufficient to state a claim under the Constitution, as interpreted in Brigham I. Under the Rule 12(b)(6) standard, we conclude that the students' allegations are sufficient to allow their claim to proceed.
14. The State next argues that the taxpayers' claim should be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) because they failed to raise any constitutional defects in Act 60. The State argues that the taxpayers will not be able show that Act 60's taxation system lacks a rational basis, and then concludes on the merits of plaintiffs' case that " his tax scheme is rationally related to the objective of providing substantially equal access to education revenues."
15. The taxpayers allege that Act 60 violates their constitutional right to be taxed the same as other similarly situated taxpayers. In One Church Street, we set out the basic requirements of the Proportional Contribution Clause. In re Property of One Church St. City of Burlington, 152 Vt. 260, 266, 565 A.2d 1349, 1352 (1989) (requiring legislative classifications of taxpayers to be reasonably related to the purpose for which the classification was established, and fairly and equitably applied among like classes of taxpayers). To demonstrate how the State is violating the Proportional Contribution Clause, the taxpayers allege that a statistical analysis will reveal the combined local and state education-related property taxes in their towns to be among the highest in the State. Again, because of the procedural posture of this case, we must accept plaintiffs' allegations as true and cannot consider the State's rebuttal that Act 60's taxation scheme has a rational basis. The taxpayers allegations are sufficient to allow their claims to proceed.
16. The State also argues that we should dismiss the complaint because plaintiffs lack
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