Page:Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee, 351 Ark. 31 (2002).pdf/49

Rh education to its school children and, as we said in DuPree, "[i]f local government fails, the state government must compel it to act." 279 Ark. at 349, 651 S.W.2d at 95 (quoting Robinson v. Cahill, supra). Deference to local control is not an option for the State when inequality prevails, and deference has not been an option since the DuPree decision.

[20, 21] It is the State's responsibility, first and foremost, to develop forthwith what constitutes an adequate education in Arkansas. It is, next, the State's responsibility to assess, evaluate, and monitor, not only the lower elementary grades for English and math proficiency, but the entire spectrum of public education across the state to determine whether equal educational opportunity for an adequate education is being substantially afforded to Arkansas' school children. It is, finally, the State's responsibility to know how state revenues are being spent and whether true equality in opportunity is being achieved. Equality of educational opportunity must include as basic components substantially equal curricula, substantially equal facilities, and substantially equal equipment for obtaining an adequate education. The key to all this, to repeat, is to determine what comprises an adequate education in Arkansas. The State has failed in each of these responsibilities.

[22] We hold that the trial court did not err in concluding that the current school-funding system violates the equal-protection sections of the Arkansas Constitution in that equal educational opportunity is not being afforded to the school children of this state and that there is no legitimate government purpose warranting the discrepancies in curriculum, facilities, equipment, and teacher pay among the school districts. It is clear to this court that, as we indicated in DuPree, whether a school child has equal educational opportunities is largely an accident of residence. We affirm the trial court on this point.

VII. Early Childhood Education
The State argues that while it may agree that as a matter of public policy pre-kindergarten programs may be one way to increase student achievement, it does not agree that such programs