Constitutional Law--Taxation--Equal Education: A Public School Financing Proposal for West Virginia

Public education is typically a state function. Yet in all states except Hawaii, primary responsibility and control have rested with the local school boards. These local boards have depended upon the property tax as a primary source of revenue. Recent judicial decisions have struck down some educational financing systems as being in violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment.

This note will discuss the constitutional issues raised by these decisions and present a statistical analysis of West Virginia's existing system. The purpose is to determine if these decisions are significant to West Virginia's method of funding public education and, if so, to offer some suggestions to ensure equalization of educational opportunities.