65 A.2d 240 | Pa. | 1949
Certain taxpayers of the City and School District of Philadelphia filed a bill in equity against the Superintendent of Schools of Philadelphia and the Assistant Superintendents and Assistant District Superintendents and the members of the Board of Public Education of Philadelphia and certain principals of the various public schools of Philadelphia, praying for injunctions both restraining and mandatory, to change the courses of study, to change the methods of promoting pupils, and to exclude certain pupils from public schools unless special schools or classes are provided for them.
Preliminary Objections were filed by the defendants on the grounds that (1) the bill of complaint does not sufficiently aver any failure of the defendants to perform the duties imposed upon them by law, any act of the defendants which was not within their proper administrative discretion under the law, or the adoption of a policy motivated by any improper or unlawful purpose; *471 (2) that the bill of complaint contains impertinent, irrelevant and scandalous matter; and (3) that the bill of complaint does not aver invasion or threatened invasion of any legally or equitably protected interest of plaintiff taxpayers.
The bill of complaint challenges the administration of the schools of Philadelphia in the selection of the courses of study, the system of promotion and the retention of non-proficient pupils in regular classes. Annexed to the bill of complaint are Exhibit "A", "Statement on Policies Relating to Pupil Placement", published by the defendant Board of Superintendents February 20, 1947, and Exhibit "C", "Report of the Committee on Pupil Placement", which was approved by the defendant Board of Public Education on November 10, 1947. These two documents contain the policies adopted by the defendants in the administration of the public schools.
The plaintiffs seek the following relief in equity:
(a) A mandatory injunction against the Board of Superintendents and the members of the Board of Public Education commanding them to direct the defendant teachers to teach certain subjects and to furnish the defendant teachers with report cards on which the teachers may grade pupils according to their relative percentages of proficiency, and indicate whether pupils are entitled to be promoted.
(b) Mandatory injunctions against the defendant teachers commanding them to teach certain subjects and to subject the pupils to written examinations to determine their percentages of proficiency and eligibility for promotion.
(c) Injunctions against the Board of Superintendents, the School District of Philadelphia, the Board of Public Education, the principals and teachers, restraining them from promoting pupils except on the basis of proficiency as determined by examinations, from including in the school curricula subjects other than the subjects *472 set forth in the bill, and from making easier the content of any course except by segregation of deficient pupils in special classes or in special schools.
Peliminary objections were filed to the bill of complaint setting forth, inter alia, "The Board of Public Education is directed by statute to define the general policies of the school system and to legislate upon all matters pertaining thereto, to determine and direct all expenditures for the maintenance and improvement of the school system, and in general to legislate upon all matters concerning the conduct of the schools subject to the provisions of the school code (Act of May 18, 1911, P. L. 309, section 2222)."
"The School Code states that the Board of Public Education with the advice, assistance and approval of its Superintendent of Schools, shall arrange courses of study adapted to the age, development and needs of the pupils (Act of May 18, 1911, P. L. 309, Section 1608).
"The averments of the Bill of Complaint fail to show that the Board of Public Education has committed any act which is not within the sphere of its powers, or which has been the result of fraud or collusion, or which does not involve the proper and legal exercise of the administrative discretion delegated to the Board of Public Education; or any act which can be subject of injunctive relief.
"The Board of Public Education and the other defendants may be restrained by injunction when they are acting without authority and in breach of the public trust committed to them. The averments of the Bill of Complaint fail to show that the defendants, or any of them, have established educational policies and conducted the public schools of Philadelphia for any purpose other than for the best interests of the pupils, nor does the Bill of Complaint show that the Board of Public Education, or any of the other defendants, have *473 ever been influenced by any consideration other than the best interest of the public."
The court below sustained the preliminary objections and dismissed the Bill of Complaint without leave to amend. In so doing the Court quoted the following from Wilson v. SchoolDistrict of Philadelphia,
The court below then pertinently said: "We must reiterate that a court is not a super Board of directors with superior knowledge of the administration of business, finance, or the science of pedagogics. It would be presumptuous to superimpose judicial control upon the exercise of discretion by trained educators. The legislature has vested wide powers in the Board of school directors under the Act of May 18, 1911, P. L. 309, sec. 1608, 24 PS 1552; sec. 2222, 24 PS 1992; sec. 1414, 24 PS 1421, with respect to the very matters which are now in issue. Our appellate courts repeatedly have affirmed their exercise of this discretion. Day v. Amwell Township School District,
Nothing need be added to what was well said by the court below.
The decree is affirmed. Costs to be paid by the appellants.