School District No. 39 of Washington County v. Decker

The Nebraska state legislature granted the state superintendent of public instruction (the state superintendent) (defendant) the power to formulate rules and regulations for the accreditation of public high schools. The state statute granting this accreditation power to the state superintendent contained no standards to guide the determination of district accreditation. The state superintendent issued a rule that Nebraska high schools should not have less than a 5:1 student-teacher ratio to be accredited. Due to this rule, the state superintendent removed School District No. 39 of Washington County (Rose Hill school) (plaintiff) from the list of state-approved public high schools. Rose Hill school was a rural high school, making it difficult for Rose Hill school to attain a higher student-teacher ratio. Rose Hill school sought injunctive relief in the state courts to enjoin the removal of Rose Hill school from the list of state-approved high schools. In court proceedings, the state superintendent admitted that his 5:1 student-teacher ratio was arbitrary. The state superintendent also admitted that he had waived the ratio for other high schools. The lower state court upheld the removal of Rose Hill school from the list of state-approved schools due to the 5:1 student-teacher ratio promulgated by the state superintendent. Rose Hill school appealed the lower court’s decision to the Nebraska Supreme Court.