Claudia C. BonnymanNASHVILLE – A Davidson County judge on Thursday delayed ruling on a request by Hamilton County and six other county school systems for granting class-action status in their pending lawsuit against Tennessee government over what they say is inadequate state education funding.
Chancellor Claudia C. Bonnyman said she is declining to decide whether the lawsuit “should proceed as a class action at this time” because she will first need to address Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety.
She directed both sides to fully brief the class-action motion and will rehear Hamilton County’s motion depending on whether she decides to get the lawsuit go forward at all.
The chancellor’s action comes after both sides on Wednesday presented arguments to her in court on the seven school districts’ request for class-action status.
“The Court is interested in further education,” Bonnyman wrote in her order, saying she wants to know “if class-action status has been granted or denied in other state or federal school funding cases and if so, what issues were considered? Does the complexity of education law in this state weigh in favor of a class action or against it? Are class actions the preferred model for litigation between public entities or should the Court rely upon the intervention process?”
At that hearing, she said she would first rule on the state’s pending motion to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety. State attorneys asked for a delay on their dismissal motion, citing complications created by the filing of a second lawsuit against the state this week by Shelby County, the state’s largest school system.
If class-action certification is approved by Bonnyman in the first lawsuit filed by Hamilton and others system, it would allow any of Tennessee’s other 136 school districts to join their lawsuit. The systems say the state’s Basic Education Program funding formula is failing to provide adequate funds to get the job done, especially in terms of funding teacher positions.
School boards in Hamilton, Bradley, Coffee, Grundy, Marion, McMinn and Polk counties filed the suit last spring. School officials in Shelby County filed their own lawsuit Monday, saying the district’s size and huge numbers of low-income students made its situation unique.
Bonnyman said the “silence from other Tennessee school boards is concerning.” She raised a question as to whether the court should consider certifying the plaintiffs’ class “conditionally” until other districts’ interest is “revealed through an opt-in or opt-out” procedure.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Chattanooga attorney Scott Bennett, who is representing Hamilton and the other counties, told Bonnyman at least four other districts had shown interest in joining in Hamilton County.
But, he said, they balked after angry state lawmakers passed a law that effectively says no state funds can be used in the litigation and if districts lose the case, they would have to pay the state’s costs. Bennett later told reporters that since Hamilton County filed the suit prior to the law’s passage, it won’t impact Hamilton or the six original counties.
If the suit is granted class-action certification, other counties could come into the case under that umbrella and not be punished, he said.
Late Thursday afternoon, Bennett said he had not yet seen the Nashville chancellor’s order. But after the Times Free Press’ Nashville office supplied a copy, Bennett said by email that “my initial thought is that the Chancellor is clearly committed to giv[ing] careful consideration to every aspect of this case.
“To that end,” she said, “she wants to consider the state’s motion to dismiss the first [suit] and, thereafter, whether to enlarge the matter into a class action. That is a well-reasoned and orderly approach.”
But Bennett said he does “regret, however, that the state’s motion [to dismiss] continues to hold us up. We have been trying to schedule a hearing for two months, and now with the addition of Shelby County, we have yet another delay.”
The attorney general’s office had no immediate comment.
The state argues that Gov. Bill Haslam and state lawmakers continue to make strides in funding education. This session, Haslam, responding to one of the criticisms, extended the state share of funding for teacher insurance from 10 months out of the year to 11 months.
Slatery’s office also questions whether the 100-plus districts comprised of small, middle-sized and large systems have much in common when it comes to remedies.
Hamilton County and the other area districts argue Tennessee public education is being shortchanged by more than a half-billion dollars.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550.