WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A trial is set to begin in a lawsuit alleging Delaware officials are failing to provide adequate educational opportunities for disadvantaged students, partly because local school property tax collections are based on outdated assessments.
A two-day trial beginning Wednesday in Chancery Court pits attorneys for the NAACP and a group called Delawareans for Educational Opportunity against lawyers representing the state's three counties.
The plaintiffs are asking the judge to declare that the counties are violating Delaware's constitution and state law by not assessing properties at fair market value. The most recent assessments were done in 1987 in Kent County, 1983 in New Castle County and 1974 in Sussex County.
A separate trial in which state officials are named as defendants will be held later.
