[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 57 (Tuesday, May 6, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING JUDGE LINTON LEWIS AS A HERO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ROBERT W. NEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 6, 1997

  Mr. NEY Mr. Speaker, in a historic decision, the Ohio Supreme Court 
recently upheld the Perry County court case in which Perry County 
common pleas judge, Linton Lewis, ruled that Ohio's current education 
financing system is unconstitutional due to the inequity of funding 
between wealthy and poor school districts.
  The court gave the Ohio General Assembly 1 year to enact a better and 
constitutional system of providing funding for public schools. The 
court also gave Judge Lewis responsibility for, and veto power over, 
the final legislative product. Judge Lewis did not ask for the job he 
was assigned and the State's top judges anticipated the criticism he 
would receive. In his concurring opinion, Justice Andrew Douglas 
praised Lewis for the magnificent job he did handling the case and 
credited him with being ``unswayed by partisan interests, public 
clamor, or fear of criticism.''
  Mr. Speaker, I have a long personal history of supporting the Perry 
County court case, and I am extremely pleased with the Ohio Supreme 
Court's ruling upholding Judge Lewis' decision. However, after reading 
what some news sources from Ohio had to say about the ruling, it is 
obvious that not everyone agrees on the court's decision or the school 
funding issue. One news source stated that ``education policy for 11 
million Ohio residents will be dictated in a rural fly speck on the 
State map--by a county judge who answers to less than one-thousandth of 
our population.''
  Mr. Speaker, I take strong exception to these comments. Ohio's 
children from poorer areas in the State deserve the same educational 
opportunities as the children in wealthier school districts, and it is 
about time that Ohio address the inequities that exist in the current 
school funding formula. This formula was challenged by a student in 
Perry County who was forced to sit on the floor to take a test because 
his school could not afford enough chairs for all of its students. 
There was an elementary school which is in my district that did not 
have running water. For the longest period of time, the students had to 
walk across the street to a gas station when they needed to use the 
restroom.
  This list of funding inequities could go on. When you have a 
situation where children in wealthy school districts receive up to 
three times as much funding for education as those in poor school 
districts, something needs to be done to rectify the situation, and I 
applaud Judge Lewis and the supreme court's courage in making this 
ruling and standing by Ohio's less fortunate children.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I firmly believe that Judge Linton Lewis 
is a hero for Ohio's schoolchildren and should, therefore, be 
recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives for his heroic stance 
on behalf of Ohio's children.

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