Okanogan School Dist. #105 v. Super. of Pub. Inst., 00-36096.
| Decision Date | 03 June 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-36096.,00-36096. |
| Citation | 291 F.3d 1161 |
| Parties | OKANOGAN SCHOOL DISTRICT # 105; Omak School District # 19; Republic School District # 309; Oroville School District # 410; Tonasket School District # 404; Quillayute Valley School District # 402; Nespelem School District # 14; Stephen Kunkel; Marile Kunkel, individually and as guardians of Karen Kunkel, William Kunkel, Frank Kunkel, and Benjamin Kunkel; Methow Valley School District # 350, Plaintiffs-Appellants, and Cusick School District # 59; Wenatchee School District # 246; Newport School District # 56; White Salmon Valley School District # 405; Cascade School District # 228; North Beach School District # 64; Kettle Falls School District # 212; Entiat School District # 127; Hoquiam School District # 28; Sedro Woolley School District # 101; Okanogan County, a Washington municipal corporation, Plaintiffs, v. SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTON; Treasurer for the State of Washington, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Jeffrey L. Fisher, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Seattle, WA, for the plaintiffs-appellants.
David A. Stolier, Assistant Attorney General, Olympia, WA, for the defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; Robert J. Bryan, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-99-05654-RJB.
Before RYMER, McKEOWN, and GOULD, Circuit Judges.
Since 1908 the federal government has paid states, such as Washington, twenty-five percent of all moneys received from national forests within their borders to be spent as the state legislature prescribes for the benefit of public schools and public roads of counties in which a national forest is situated. 16 U.S.C. § 500. Washington distributes these funds to forest land counties, but has decided that forest land counties must disburse half of the money directly to school districts. The state then credits the amount of that disbursement toward the amount of state-mandated aid (called the basic education allocation, or BEA) that would otherwise be paid to the districts. Wash. Rev.Code § 28A.520.020.
Parents of children who attend the public schools in a forest land county and a number of school districts seek through this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to restrain the Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Treasurer from reducing the districts' BEA in this way. They seek an order requiring them instead to pay school districts in forest land counties their full allocation of forest funds and their full basic education allocation. The district court held that neither the parents nor school districts have standing, and that the federal statute has not been violated in any event.
We agree that the school districts lack standing under City of South Lake Tahoe v. California Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 625 F.2d 231 (9th Cir.1980). School districts are a political subdivision of the state, and political subdivisions of a state may not challenge the validity of a state statute in federal court. Whether parents, in behalf of their children, have standing is a closer question. We conclude that they have sufficiently shown injury in fact, but that their ability to redress concerns about their children's education through the requested relief is problematic because the connection between § 500 and the quality of education delivered by any particular district is attenuated. In effect this leads us to the merits, for both standing and the merits in this case turn on the unique way that § 500 structures the distribution of aid. Section 500 provides that federal forest funds are to be paid to the state, not to school districts. The statute does not constrain how the state exercises its discretion in spending those funds for the benefit of schools or roads in forest land counties, or control how the state (or a school district) uses its own funds in relation to the forest funds. Thus, the district court correctly entered judgment for the Superintendent and Treasurer.
Stephen and Marile Kunkel have four children who attend public school in the Okanogan School District.1 The district is in a county that has forest land which belongs to the federal government. National forest property is not taxable by the county. Congress recognized the impact this would have on the ability of forest land counties to raise money for schools and roads, so it enacted § 500. See "The National Forest Management Act: Law of the Forest in the Year 2000," 21 J. Land Resources & Envtl. L. 151, 159 (2001). Section 500 provides:
[T]wenty-five per centum of all moneys received during any fiscal year from each national forest shall be paid, at the end of such year, by the Secretary of the Treasury to the State ... in which such national forest is situated, to be expended as the State ... legislature may prescribe for the benefit of the public schools and public roads of the county or counties in which such national forest is situated: Provided, That when any national forest is in more than one State or Territory or county the distributive share to each from the proceeds of such forest shall be proportional to its area therein.
16 U.S.C. § 500 (West 2000) (emphasis in original).
Washington has established a federal forest fund revolving account into which the treasurer deposits forest revenues for eligible counties. Wash. Rev.Code § 28A.520.020. Fifty percent of each forest land county's share is disbursed directly to the county to be spent as it chooses for public roads, public schools, or other public purposes authorized by federal law. This half is not at issue in this case. The other fifty percent goes through the county directly to school districts in the county, as authorized by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) according to a formula based on the number of full-time equivalent students in each district. It is this half about which the Kunkels and school districts complain.
Like all states, Washington's funding mechanism for public schools is complex. In broad strokes, each district is guaranteed a minimum level of funding through a general apportionment entitlement that pays for services and supports the district's basic education program. A district's "basic education allocation" is based on its annual average full-time equivalent enrollment and various adjustments, including forest fund revenues received by the district. If a district is in a forest land county and its forest fund revenues are less than its BEA, the Superintendent apportions to the district the difference between the district's forest fund share and the BEA to which it would otherwise be entitled. Wash. Rev.Code § 28A.520.020(3). The Kunkels and Okanogan assert that the SPI should not be allowed to reduce the district's BEA by the amount of forest funds the district receives, because doing so deprives Okanogan schools of § 500 funding that is meant to compensate for the county's loss of a large part of its taxable land base.
The BEA is the largest component of school financing in Washington, but school districts may also levy taxes for support of maintenance and operation (a general fund levy), transportation, and facilities if authorized by sixty percent of the voters in the district.2 Wash. Rev.Code § 84.52.053; Wash. Const. Art. VII, § 2(a). The state supplements maintenance and operation levy money by local effort assistance funds to help equalize local tax levy burdens.3 Wash. Rev.Code § 28A.500.010. Finally, the state provides enhanced funding for small school districts. Wash. Rev.Code § 28A.150.260(1)(e).
Approximately 84 percent of Okanogan School District's annual funding comes from the state of Washington, 10 percent from the federal government, and 6 percent from local property tax levies. In fiscal year 1998-99, Okanogan's funding totaled $7,560,989.76. The district received $91,378.47 in federal forest revenues, which was added to $3,743,136.03 of BEA. Okanogan also received $379,505.96 in local effort assistance funds from the state, and raised $375,487.06 in local property taxes. The district budgets these resources in five expenditure categories: the General Fund, which is for staff salaries and benefits, classroom supplies and materials; the Debt Service Fund, which is used to pay down previous bond levies; the Capital Projects Fund, which is used to build and maintain facilities; the Transportation Vehicle Fund, which pays for buses; and the Associated Student Body Fund, to which students who wish to participate in extracurricular activities contribute $30 to defray program expenses such as travel and referees. The Kunkels believe that their children's education has been negatively impacted by the district's lack of funds, and that each child would benefit from better facilities and programs, more buses to reduce the time spent getting to and from school, and equipment that is up to date.
The Kunkels and Okanogan brought this suit to stop the state from reducing the school district's BEA by the amount of federal forest funds it receives. They also sought damages. The school district was dismissed on SPI's motion pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), as a political subdivision of the state may not challenge the validity of a state statute in federal court on federal constitutional grounds; the claim of both parties for damages was dismissed because the Superintendent and the Treasurer are state actors and compensatory relief cannot be obtained against the state. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court held that the Kunkels lack standing because their injuries are generalized and not causally related to how the state factors forest funds into school financing. The court also concluded that the Kunkels are not within the zone of interests protected by § 500 because it extends to states, school districts and counties,...
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