Utah School Boards v. State Bd. of Educ., 990296.

• Citation: 17 P.3d 1125
• Decision Date: 12 January 2001
• Docket Number: No. 990296.,990296.
• Parties: UTAH SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. UTAH STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, Defendant and Appellee.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

17 P.3d 1125

UTAH SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. UTAH STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, Defendant and Appellee.

No. 990296.

Supreme Court of Utah.

January 12, 2001.

Brinton R. Burbidge, Blake T. Ostler, Patrick L. Tanner, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Jan Graham, Att'y Gen., John S. McAllister, William T. Evans, Asst. Att'ys Gen., Salt Lake City, for defendant. RUSSON, Associate Chief Justice:

¶ 1 The Utah School Boards Association ("Boards Association") appeals the third district court's summary judgment decision in favor of the Utah State Board of Education ("State Board") declaring the Utah Charter Schools Act¹ constitutional. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 In 1998, the Utah Legislature passed the Utah Charter Schools Act (the "Act") as part of the Schools for the 21st Century² initiative to better address the individual needs of Utah students. See Utah Code Ann. § 53A-1a-502(1). The Act authorized the creation of "up to eight charter schools [in Utah] for a three-year pilot program." Id. The charter schools are part of the state's public education system, see id. § 53A-1a-502(2), and are meant to contribute to the improvement and customization of public education programs, see id. § 53A-1a-401(1).

¶ 3 Under the Act, the legislature authorized the State Board to act in a supervisory role. The State Board was given the authority to review charter school applications and either approve or deny each one. See id. § 53A-1a-505(2)(b). Approved applicants were to work with the State Board in formulating a school's charter that, when signed, served as a contractual agreement. See id. § 53A-1a-505(3). The charter may be modified only upon the mutual agreement of the school's governing body and the State Board. See id. § 53A-1a-508(4). However, the legislature enumerated in the Act a number of reasons for which the State Board could terminate or refuse to renew a charter. See id. § 53A-1a-510. During the term of a charter, a charter school was given certain reporting requirements. These reports were to be sent to the State Board, local school boards, and the legislature. See id. §§ 53A-1a-507(4), -509. The State Board also was given the responsibility of developing rules to provide for specific aspects of charter school funding distribution. See id. § 53A-1a-513.

¶ 4 In August 1998, the Boards Association³ filed a complaint for declaratory relief against the State Board, challenging the Act's constitutionality. The Boards Association alleged in its complaint that the Utah Constitution limits the authority the legislature may grant to the State Board. The Boards Association asserted that because the state constitution vested the State Board with the "general control and supervision of the public education system," Utah Const. art. X, § 3, the legislature could authorize the State Board to act only for the whole system. Accordingly, the Boards Association claimed that the legislature violated the constitution by passing the Act, which granted local and specific controls to the State Board.

¶ 5 The State Board denied the Boards Association's allegations and requested that the Act be declared constitutional. The State Board then moved for summary judgment, arguing that the Boards Association had not met its burden of proof in challenging the constitutionality of the Act. The State Board asserted that the Utah Constitution did not preclude it from exercising direct control over specific schools or programs if authorized by the legislature because the greater power expressed by "general control" includes the lesser power of specific control.

¶ 6 The Boards Association made a cross-motion for summary judgment, arguing that general control and supervision meant universal or central control as opposed to particularized or local control; it meant control and supervision directed only to the whole of the public education system. In March 1999, the third district court granted summary judgment in favor of the State Board, holding that the Act did not violate the state constitution. The Boards Association appealed to this court. ¶ 7 On appeal, the Boards Association argues that article X, section 3 of the Utah Constitution limits the authority the legislature may grant to the State Board, and that with the Act, the legislature overreached this authority. Specifically, the Boards Association claims that because the state constitution vested the State Board with only general control and supervision over the public education system, the legislature can authorize the State Board to act only in ways that affect the entire system. The Boards Association argues that this restriction prohibits the legislature from authorizing the State Board to act with specific or local supervision and control. The Boards Association avers that the Act unlawfully authorized the State Board to (1) approve or deny charter applications, (2) work with applicants in setting terms and conditions for operation of specific charter schools, (3) terminate a school's charter, and (4) redirect local school district revenues — all controls specific and local in nature.

¶ 8 The State Board counters that the state constitution's grant of general control and supervision cannot reasonably be interpreted as a limitation on legislative power. Instead, the State Board argues that the legislature has plenary powers and that when read in conjunction with the other relevant constitutional provisions the only reasonable inference of the disputed language is that the legislature is restricted from assigning general supervision and control for the public education system to any other agency or official.

SCOPE OF REVIEW

¶ 9 The power and duty of ascertaining the meaning of a constitutional provision resides exclusively with the judiciary. See Wadsworth v. Santaquin, 83 Utah 321, 351, 28 P.2d 161, 172 (1933). The issue of whether a statute is constitutional is a question of law that we review for correctness, "affording no particular deference to the trial court's ruling." Bd. of Comm'rs v. Petersen, 937 P.2d 1263, 1266 (Utah 1997). Furthermore, "[a] statute is presumed constitutional, and `we resolve any reasonable doubts in favor of constitutionality.'" Id. at 1267 (quoting Soc'y of Separationists, Inc. v. Whitehead, 870 P.2d 916, 920 (Utah 1993)).

ANALYSIS

¶ 10 The Act clearly grants the State Board specific and local controls. See Utah Code Ann. §§ 53A-1a-504, -505, -508 to -510, -513 (Supp.2000). Therefore, the essential question before us is whether the legislature had authority to pass the Act giving the State Board the designated supervisory powers.

¶ 11 The Utah Constitution is not one of grant, but one of limitation. "`The state having thus committed its whole lawmaking power to the legislature, excepting such as is expressly or impliedly withheld by the state or federal constitution, it has plenary power for all purposes of civil government.'" Univ. of Utah v. Bd. of Examiners, 4 Utah 2d 408, 426, 295 P.2d 348, 361 (1956) (quoting Kimball v. Grantsville, 19 Utah 368, 383, 57 P. 1, 4-5 (1899)); see also Spence v. Utah State Agric. Coll., 119 Utah 104, 112, 225 P.2d 18, 23 (1950)

; 16 C.J.S. Constitutional Law § 58, at 150 (1984) ("As a general rule, the legislature possesses and may exercise all legislative power, or power to enact statutes, of the state or people of the state, subject only to the limitations or prohibitions imposed by the state constitution."). Therefore, if the legislature is to be "restricted in educational as well as all other matters, it is imperative that the Legislature be restricted expressly or by necessary implication by the Constitution itself." Bd. of Exam'rs,

4 Utah 2d at 426,

295 P.2d at 360; see also Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp. v. Utah State Tax Comm'n, 953 P.2d 435, 442 (Utah 1997); Wadsworth v. Santaquin, 83 Utah 321, 336, 28 P.2d 161, 167 (1933); State v. Lewis, 26 Utah 120, 123, 72 P. 388, 389 (1903); 16 C.J.S. Constitutional Law, supra, § 58, at 150-51. As a result, the Act at issue must be deemed constitutional unless an examination of the Utah Constitution reveals limitations upon the legislature with respect thereto.

¶ 12 The Utah Constitution provides in relevant part:

The Legislature shall make laws for the establishment and maintenance of a system of public schools, which shall be open to all the children of the State and be free from sectarian control.

Utah Const. art. III, ord. 4.⁴ Accordingly, article X, which provides for Utah's system of education, states:

The Legislature shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of the state's education systems including: (a) a public education system, which shall be open to all children of the state; and (b) a higher education system. Both systems shall be free from sectarian control.

Id. art. X, § 1. In addition,

The public education system shall include all public elementary and secondary schools and such other schools and programs as the Legislature may designate. The higher education system shall include all public universities and colleges and such other institutions and programs as the Legislature may designate. Public elementary and secondary schools shall be free, except the Legislature may authorize the imposition of fees in the secondary schools.

Id. § 2 (emphasis added).

¶ 13 In considering the meaning of a constitutional provision, the analysis begins with the plain language of the provision. See In re Worthen, 926 P.2d 853, 866 (Utah 1996)

. We need not look beyond the plain language unless we find some ambiguity in it. See id.

¶ 14 The legislature has plenary authority to create laws that provide for the establishment and maintenance of the Utah public education system. This includes any other schools and programs the legislature may designate to be included in the system. However, its authority is not unlimited. The legislature, for instance, cannot establish schools and programs that are not open to all the...