Florida High Court Allows Education Suit to Proceed

The Florida Supreme Court last week ruled that a lawsuit challenging the Legislature’s education budget cuts must go forward.

The organization Fund Education Now filed the suit in 2009 claiming that billions in budget cuts violate a constitutional requirement for a “uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high-quality system of free public schools.”

State lawmakers fought the suit from district court to the state’s appellate court and eventually to the Supreme Court.

In another matter, the Florida Supreme Court Sept. 7 heard oral arguments about whether legislators correctly ordered state employees and teachers to pay 3% of their paychecks toward their pensions.

If the high court agrees with a lower court ruling that the required payment impairs employee’s contractual rights, the state could be required to repay as much as $2 billion plus interest.

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