That headline? I felt stupid writing it. Of course schools are going to open. I'm going to keep saying this, because someone has to-- the Courts didn't have the authority to close the schools. Justices can rule whether something is constitutional. Theoretically, I guess they could all form a human chain across one set of school doors, but other than that, they're simply a couple of people in black robes waiving papers around. I'm not a huge fan of civil disobedience, but if that's the only remedy, it's better than the alternative--being enslaved.
It doesn't seem like we have many people in the legislature or in the school lobby who get that.
When the day began, legislators were set to run a plan that most school districts who testified said they supported. Sometime between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, they changed their minds. Half of a percent of a cut was just too devastating.
Honestly, I'm sick of writing about this. I've said it all before. Until every dime in the state general fund is diverted to the wallets of school administrators, this will continue.
Republicans think this quick solution is some sort of political maneuver that's going to allow them to get back out there and campaign (true), and they hope this decision will somehow help in a campaign to toss renegade judges from the Supreme Court (I doubt it.).
The plan that eventually passed was only slightly less liberal than the plan Democrats attempted to float. This doesn't feel like a victory to me. At all.
The one bright spot-- and I mean tiny light in a black hole-- is that the plaintiffs in the recent school court case basically settled saying they will not litigate over "equity" in this fix. In almost the next breath, however, the school litigants' attorney said now they'll concentrate on "adequacy."
The litigation isn't over. The war continues, and conservatives just gave up ground.
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