Settling Without "Settling": School Finance Litigation and Governance Reform in Maryland

When the ACLU filed suit against Maryland in 1994 on behalf of a class of at-risk students in Baltimore, the city schools were spending $5873 per pupil. By 2003, per-pupil spending in Baltimore had risen to $8926, and under current law is projected to grow to $13,496 in 200 8. Relative to this remarkable infusion of resources, the Maryland litigation has received little recent attention in the scholarly literature. The primary reason is that Maryland settled its school finance case, and the litigation never produced a Maryland Supreme Court opinion on the merits.

The case consequently flies below the radar screen of most school finance litigation studies.