Page:Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee, 351 Ark. 31 (2002).pdf/74

104 and efficient that may be derived from our case law is more than sufficient to use in determining whether the constitutional mandate has been met by the General Assembly.

I also note that under the facts of this case, we need not determine whether judicial review is under strict scrutiny or whether there is a fundamental right to the constitutionally mandated general, suitable, and efficient education. In 1885, this court held plainly that every child entitled to a public education has a right to a general, suitable, and efficient education in the public schools. Maddox, supra. Under any conceivable standard of review, the current system is woefully inadequate and does not begin to fulfill the constitutional mandate.

The majority opinion sets out the facts, and I will not repeat them here. The examples provided hardly scratch the surface of the inadequacies of the current public school system. Large numbers of our students test below the national average. A majority of Arkansas students require remediation in math or English when they start college. Our classroom teachers are substantially underpaid. Compensation of teachers is not even consistent between districts.

To see the gravity of the problem, we need look no further than to a district where the entire math program in one school is offered by a grossly underpaid substitute teacher who is neither provided with sufficient supplies, materials, or computers, nor adequate physical facilities. We also need look no further than to a district where students are not afforded reasonable toilet facilities, where roofs leak, where buses do not meet minimum state standards, and where there are buildings without heat. It is the obligation of the General Assembly to provide the constitutionally required facilities, materials, equipment and competent teachers. Maury, supra; Berry, supra.

The constitution places the responsibility squarely upon the General Assembly to establish, maintain, and support a. public school system which provides a general, suitable, and efficient educational opportunity to all students between the ages of six and twenty-one. See footnote 1. Since the adoption of the present constitution in 1874, school districts have been created, and