Iberville Parish School Board v. Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the State of Louisiana Through the State Department of Education C/W Louisiana Association of Educators, Caddo Association of Educators, Calcasieu Association of Educators, Inc., Concordia Association of Educators, the East Baton Rouge Association of Educators, Lafayette Parish Association of Educators, Madison Association of Educators, Monroe Association of Educators, St. Landry Association of Educators, St. Mary Association of Educators, Ann Burruss, Rev. Oscar Hamilton, Deborah Hargrave, Melinda Waller Mangham and Thomas Tate v. State of Louisiana, the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the State of Louisiana Through the Department of Education, 248 So. 3d 299

Background

In 2014 the Louisiana Legislature approved SCR 55 as the 2014–2015 Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) formula adopted by BESE; SCR 55 explicitly applied La. R.S. 17:3995 to provide state and local MFP allocations to New Type 2 charter schools.
Plaintiffs (Iberville Parish School Board and Louisiana Association of Educators) sued, alleging SCR 55 unlawfully diverts MFP funds constitutionally allocated to parish and city school systems to New Type 2 charter schools and improperly uses locally dedicated tax revenue.
The district court upheld SCR 55; the court of appeal reversed, holding New Type 2 charter schools are not “public schools” for constitutional MFP purposes and that SCR 55 unconstitutionally diverts funds.
The Louisiana Supreme Court granted review to decide whether the constitution bars allocation of MFP state or local funds to New Type 2 charter schools and whether use of local tax revenue violates constitutional tax-dedication rules.
The Supreme Court held (majority) New Type 2 charter schools are public schools for MFP purposes and that SCR 55’s application of the MFP formula to those schools does not violate Article VIII, §13(B) or §13(C); it reversed the court of appeal.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether New Type 2 charter schools are "public schools" under Art. VIII, §13(B)	MFP funds may only be allocated to parish and city school systems; New Type 2 charters are outside those systems and thus cannot receive MFP funds	Charter schools are statutorily defined as independent public schools; BESE’s MFP formula may fund all public schools, including New Type 2 charters	New Type 2 charter schools are public schools for MFP purposes; plaintiffs failed to prove a constitutional prohibition on funding them
Whether SCR 55 diverts MFP funds in violation of Art. VIII, §13(B) by allocating state/local MFP shares to New Type 2 charters	SCR 55 diverts funds constitutionally mandated for parish/city systems to independent charters	BESE and legislature have authority to develop/approve MFP formula; allocation to public charters does not violate the constitution	Applying the MFP formula to New Type 2 charters is constitutional; reversal of appellate court’s declaration of unconstitutionality
Whether allocating local, dedicated tax revenue to New Type 2 charters violates Art. VIII, §13(C) (tax dedication/vested-improvements concerns)	Local taxes (voter-approved dedications) were intended for parish/city school systems and cannot fund charter schools whose facilities may vest in private foundations	Local taxes are inputs to the local cost allocation calculation; SCR 55 does not transfer actual tax receipts to charters but allocates MFP on a per‑pupil basis; inclusion of local revenue in formula is permissible	Use of local revenue in the MFP allocation to public New Type 2 charters does not violate §13(C); tax-dedication language does not bar calculating local support per pupil for charters

Key Cases Cited

Louisiana Federation of Teachers v. State of Louisiana, 118 So.3d 1033 (La. 2013) (held diversion of MFP funds to nonpublic schools was unconstitutional; court did not define full scope of "parish and city school systems")
City of New Orleans v. Louisiana Assessors' Retirement & Relief Fund, 986 So.2d 1 (La. 2007) (statute providing method for calculating remittance did not unconstitutionally divert dedicated taxes)
La. Mun. Ass'n v. State, 893 So.2d 809 (La. 2005) (principles on de novo review and presumption of constitutionality of legislative acts)