Complaint in Coos County Circuit Court

On September 25, 2023 we filed a Complaint in the Coos County Circuit Court that begins by saying:

"Despite the guarantees to Oregon’s schoolchildren in Article VIII “Education and School Lands” of the Oregon Constitution, Oregon’s schools have been and continue to be chronically and constitutionally underfunded.  Oregon’s Common School Lands, established by section 2 of Article VIII, provide an important and independent source of funds for public education. Oregon politicians and agencies, Defendants herein, have diverted significant value from Common School Lands to non-school purposes and have failed to adhere to their fiduciary duties as trustees of those lands for the benefit of Oregon’s schoolchildren.

"This lawsuit asks the Court to issue declarations to enforce the accountability envisioned by Article VIII, section 8 by ordering the Oregon Legislature to prepare a report regarding the insufficiency of funding for the 2021-2023 and 2023-2025 bienniums and to uphold Article VIII’s guarantees to Oregon’s schoolchildren by declaring invalid the sale of the Elliott State Forest (a large portion of the Common School Lands) to a newly established state agency for a small fraction of its actual value.  "

Our Response

On January 4, 2024, we filed our "Response".

Supporting docs

This 110-page declaration by Dave Sullivan contains about 10 supporting documents.