Education Rights Center
at Howard University School of Law
MARYLAND
Constitutional Clause/Language
“The General Assembly, at its First Session after the adoption of this Constitution, shall by Law establish throughout the State a thorough and efficient System of Free Public Schools; and shall provide by taxation, or otherwise,
for their maintenance.” Md. Const. art. 8, s. 1.
Major Court Decision: Hornbeck v. Somerset County Bd. of Educ., 458 A.2d 758 (Md. 1983).
Result: Financing system upheld (although subsequent litigation in regard to the Baltimore City Schools has produced a different result).
Summary: The Maryland Supreme Court held that education is not a fundamental right. The court also held that the constitution does not mandate exactly equal funding among districts. The constitutional mandate of “through and efficient” is met as long as a free education is being provided to all school children and that education is at least of a minimal level.
Key Quotes:
“It is manifest from the history underlying the adoption of Article VIII of the 1867 Constitution, and from the consistent interpretation and application of its provisions by the legislative and executive branches of the State government for more than one hundred years, that the ‘thorough and efficient’ language of § 1 does not mandate uniformity in per pupil funding and expenditures among the State's school districts. The words of § 1 require no more than that the General Assembly, by law, establish a ‘thorough and efficient’ system of free public schools throughout the State, funded by taxation or otherwise.” Id. at 632.
“Contrary to the position taken by Judge Ross... the provisions of § 1 do not, in our view, clearly and unambiguously compel the enactment of a statute mandating exact equality in per pupil funding and expenditures among the State's school districts as the constitutionally required means of establishing and maintaining a ‘thorough and efficient’ statewide system of free public schools.” Id. at 639.
“The trial court did not find that the schools in any district failed to provide an adequate education measured by contemporary educational standards. Simply to show that the educational resources available in the poorer school districts are inferior to those in the rich districts does not mean that there is insufficient funding provided by the State's financing system for all students to obtain an adequate education.” Id.
Equal Protection “We agree with the view expressed in Rodriguez that whether a claimed right is fundamental does not turn alone on the relative desirability or importance of that right. Nevertheless, we conclude that education is not a fundamental right for purposes of equal protection analysis under Art. 24 of the Declaration of Rights.” Id. at 650. “We decline to adopt the overly simplistic articulation of the fundamental rights test set forth in Rodriguez, i.e., that the existence of a fundamental right is determined by whether it is explicitly or implicitly guaranteed in the constitution. Maryland's Constitution explicitly, not to mention implicitly, guarantees rights and interests which can in no way be considered ‘fundamental.’ The right to an adequate education in Maryland is no more fundamental than the right to personal security, to fire protection, to welfare subsidies, to health care or like vital governmental services; accordingly, strict scrutiny is not the proper standard of review of the Maryland system of financing its public schools.” Id. at 651.