Page:Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee, 351 Ark. 31 (2002).pdf/75

Rh responsibility for taxation for schools has in part been transferred to the local level. Local districts have run their schools, and the public is accustomed to local control. However, none of this alters the General Assembly's responsibility under our constitution.

The General Assembly has been well within its constitutional authority in the creation of the districts and in allowing local control. This court has long recognized that the General Assembly must employ agencies to accomplish the obligation of establishing and maintaining a system of free public schools. Lemaire, 174 Ark. at 939. See also, ''Allen v. Harmony Grove Consol. Sch. Dist. No. 19'', 175 Ark. 212, 298 S.W.2d 997 (1927). The State may establish boards and appoint directors, but such boards and directors are only agents of the General Assembly. Maddox, supra. Boards and directors are but trustees appointed to run the system the constitution requires. Id., see also, Allen, supra. If the system does not function properly, the General Assembly bears responsibility whatever the cause. See Dupree, supra.

The majority notes the frustration that the Arkansas Department of Education has failed to complete an adequacy study requested by the General Assembly. The trial court stated that to determine the amount of funding "for an education system based on need and not on the amount available but on the amount necessary to provide an adequate educational system, the court concludes an adequacy study is necessary and must be conducted forthwith." This is a failure of the General Assembly. The Department of Education, in this context, is acting as an agent of the General Assembly. The Department's inaction is a matter for the General Assembly to resolve. Wheelis, supra. It is the General Assembly's duty under the constitution to provide the required