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Suit challenging CO education funds goes to trial
Posted: Jul 31, 2011 11:54 AM by AP Posted by James H Egbert
DENVER (AP) - A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of how Colorado funds education is going to trial in Denver District Court.
The plaintiffs contend Colorado has underfunded schools and violated its constitutional mandate requiring a "thorough and uniform" education system. They say that poorer communities are at a funding disadvantage.
Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper and Republican Attorney General John Suthers say losing the case can cost the state billions of dollars and hamstring the state budget if the Legislature is ordered to allocate more money to education.
Plaintiffs estimate that Colorado schools are underfunded by as much as $4 billion.
The trial is expected to last five weeks. The lawsuit was first filed in 2005 and failed in the lower courts before the state Supreme Court reversed those decisions and remanded the case to district court.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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