Chief justice: Current court should decide school funding case

The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - The state's chief justice will urge his colleagues to resolve Ohio's 11-year-old school-funding case before a newly elected justice joins the Supreme Court in January.

The case should have been ruled on by now, Chief Justice Thomas Moyer said yesterday.

Two justices said they agreed with Moyer's sentiment but couldn't predict if it would happen.

"This way it's a clean decision," said Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, a Republican who won re-election Tuesday. "Whether you like it or don't like it, it's better for appearances and it's the right thing ethically to do.

"Can we? It remains to be seen."

Justice Paul Pfeifer said he thought the court was ready to rule in May, meaning a decision could still happen this year.

Republican Lt. Gov. Maureen O'Connor defeated Democrat Tim Black on Tuesday for an open seat on the court. Justice Andy Douglas, a Toledo Republican, is stepping down because of a mandatory age limit for justices.

Opponents of the court's school-funding decisions supported O'Connor, hoping she would rule the system constitutional. O'Connor has not said how she would rule.

The court has twice said the method of paying for education is unconstitutional and favors rich districts over poor.

In a third decision in September 2001, the court ruled 4-3 that the current system would be constitutional if more money was spent on schools.

In November, court agreed to reconsider that decision after estimates of the spending hit $1.2 billion annually.

The court has remained deadlocked since then. Moyer said he doesn't know where the other justices stand now.

The case is named for Perry County schoolboy Nathan DeRolph, in whose name the 1991 lawsuit was filed. Among other things, the original lawsuit said that DeRolph once sat on a floor to take a test because his school lacked chairs.