Having a judge determine how much money to spend on Florida schools and where to spend it is “an exercise in futility, and madness, and a waste of funds,” Florida Board of Education member Roberto Martinez said today.

Martinez’s comments came after a Department of Education attorney updated the board on a high-profile lawsuit that charges the board and lawmakers with violating state constitutional provisions for high quality schools. It was filed in 2009 by eight plaintiffs, including the Orlando-based parents group Fund Education Now. Last month, the Florida Supreme Court refused to block it from going to trial.

Martinez, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, is among the defendants. Here is what he had to say:

So basically they’re asking a sitting trial court judge in a county – in this case, Leon County – to tell 67 superintendents and the Board of Education, for example, how much funding to put into a particular program in a district, correct? Among other things? (The attorney says yes.)

I’ve probably been one of the most outspoken members on the board for more funding for education, funding for effective programs and I believe we need more of it. But to have a court judge, no matter how capable – and this is a capable jurist – be given the responsibility to determine how much money is adequate, in order to fund a particular service or program in a particular district in the state of Florida, is an exercise in madness. It is a ridiculous relief to request because at the end of the day, it cannot be implemented. It cannot. And in fact, a judge does not have the authority to tell the Legislature how much money to appropriate. They don’t make the funding decisions. (more…)