Cite as 351 Ark. 31 (2002)
maintain a general, suitable and efficient system of free public schools and shall adopt all suitable means to secure to the people the advantages and opportunities of education.
Ark. Const., art. 14, § 1 (emphasis added). That is not the case in the state constitutions in four of the five cases cited by the State as authority for its nonjusticiability position; rather, in those state constitutions it is incumbent upon the General Assembly to provide, maintain, or promote the public schools. See James v. Alabama Coalition for Equity, Inc., supra ("The legislature may by law provide for or authorize the establishment and operation of schools. . . ."); Marrero v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, supra ("The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education. . . ."); Coalition for Adequacy & Fairness in School Funding, Inc. v. Chiles, supra ("Adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform system of free public schools. . . ."); City of Pawtucket v. Sundlun, supra ("[I]t shall be the duty of the general assembly to promote public schools. . . .").
As a historical footnote, our own Education Article in our current state constitution was adopted in 1874 and amended by Amendment 53 in 1968. The four preceding constitutions in Arkansas all stated that the General Assembly would provide for public education. See Ark. Const. of 1836, art. VII; Ark. Const. of 1861, art. VII, § 1; Ark. Const. of 1864, art. VIII; Ark. Const. of 1868, art. IX, § 1. In 1874, however, that duty was expressly shifted to the State, which signaled, in our judgment, a deliberate change. The people of this state unquestionably wanted all departments of state government to be responsible for providing a general, suitable, and efficient system of public education to the children of this state.
The State's argument appears to be that not only are legislative acts presumed to be constitutional, see, e.g., Ford v. Keith, 338 Ark. 487, 996 S.W.2d 20 (1999), but that they are per se constitutional and not subject to judicial review. Thus, the State's position is that the judiciary has no role in examining school funding in light of the Arkansas Constitution, though the annual appropriation constitutes almost one half of the State's total budget and affects the vast majority of school-aged children in this State.
