Not the court’s constitutional role

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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State Supreme Court justices were right to demur this week when asked to rule on state education standards.

We agree that every Iowa child deserves access to a quality education. But it's not the court's place to legislate details of Iowa's public schools.

The courts would have overstepped their boundaries if they agreed to hear a 2008 lawsuit filed by more than a dozen students and parents, and backed by heavy hitters Marvin Pomerantz, former Board of Regents president, and Des Moines attorney and former gubernatorial candidate Doug Gross.

In that suit, filed against the state, the governor, the Iowa Department of Education and its director, parties wanted the court to rule that students have a right to equal education - something they claimed was being denied to students in smaller districts.

But there's no constitutional justification for such meddling, the court ruled in a 4-3 vote. According to Gross, who represented the plaintiffs, it was the first time the court had been asked to interpret the state constitution's education clause, which outlines the state's duty to “use all suitable means to encourage and promote education.”

Iowa's schoolchildren deserve the best education our state can provide, no matter where they live. But the finer points - ensuring quality, accessibility and uniformity - are better left out of the courtroom.

Although they're still discussing how, exactly, to go about it, lawmakers, school officials, parents, teachers and community members have demonstrated in these past several months a commitment to school reform aimed at once again putting Iowa at the head of the class when it comes to educating children.

That's the appropriate avenue to pursue this much-needed change.

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