Page:Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee, 351 Ark. 31 (2002).pdf/16

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Lake View Sch. Dist. No. 25 v. Huckabee
Cite as 351 Ark. 31 (2002)
[351


failure to comply with the 1994 order, and the failure of the trial court to order specific remedies.

Little more than one hour later on June 22, 2001, the State appealed the 2001 order on both the constitutionality points and the award of attorneys' fees. Over the ensuing year, the parties jockeyed for position on various issues such as who was the true appellant and who was the cross-appellant, who would prepare the abstract of testimony, and whether a separate brief on attorneys' fees was warranted. This court concluded that Lake View was the appellant and the State was the cross-appellant, that the State could reabstract the testimony and record, and that Lake View was entitled to a brief on the merits of the case as well as a brief on attorneys' fees. The Rogers and Bentonville school districts were designated as Intervenors/Appellees, as was the Little Rock School District. The three school districts intervened in support of the trial court's conclusion that the school-funding system was unconstitutional on adequacy and inequality grounds. No other school districts intervened on appeal. The rulings and orders made by this court over the past year were memorialized in an opinion of this court. See Lake View Sch. Dist. No. 25 v. Huckabee, 349 Ark. 116, 76 S.W.3d 250 (2002) (per curiam) (Lake View III). This opinion included reference to the filing of amicus curiae briefs. With the permission of this court, the following groups filed amicus curiae briefs in this matter: the Arkansas Education Association (in support of the trial court's order); the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, Inc. and the Associated Industries of Arkansas, Inc. (in support of the trial court's order); Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (in support of the trial court's order); the Arkansas Public Policy Panel and the Rural School and Community Trust (in support of the trial court's order); and the Arkansas Policy Foundation (in support of the State's position).

II. School-Funding System

At the time of the 2001 final order, there were 310 school districts in Arkansas. In Lake View II, this court described the school-funding system as it existed in 1994 as follows: