LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER—Has Colorado illegally failed to fund its public education system, or is it another cash-strapped state doing its best without overburdening taxpayers?
That’s the central debate in Lobato v. the State of Colorado, one of the largest public school funding cases in the state’s history. The case goes to trial Aug. 1 in Denver District Court, with Denver District Judge Sheila Rappaport presiding.
“This case begins with the constitution, and ends with the future of our children,” said Kenzo Kawanabe, a partner with Denver law firm Davis Graham & Stubbs who is leading a team of about 15 additional plaintiffs’ counsel from 10 area law firms.
The Lobato case originated in 2005, when a group of parents from eight Colorado school districts sued the state, alleging Colorado’s finance system violated its own constitutional requirement that it provide for a “thorough and uniform” public education system. According to plaintiffs, public education funding isn’t given the same scrutiny as funding for other public services, like transportation. A cost analysis from the plaintiffs shows the state underfunded its public education system by billions.
“If you were to build a road or establish a healthcare program, you would actually estimate how much that would cost and then fund that amount,” Kawanabe said. “They do not do that in public education, which is not rational.”
Joining Kawanabe on the case are attorneys from Faegre & Benson, Greenburg Traurig, the Harris Law Firm, Holland & Hart, Perkins Coie, Reilly Pozner and Snell & Wilmer. Also participating are the original attorneys who filed the Lobato lawsuit, Kathleen Gebhardt of Children’s Voices in Boulder, and Alexander Halpern, also of Boulder.
Leading the state’s trial defense team is senior assistant attorney general Carey Markel, who was unavailable this week for an interview due to trial preparations. Law Week will interview Colorado Attorney General John Suthers Wednesday morning for the state’s perspective.
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt. Read the full article in the Aug. 1 print edition of Law Week Colorado!
