Schreder

The federal government distributes to the states a portion of federal forest reserve revenues; these are to be spent for public roads and schools as prescribed by state law. ( 16 U.S.C. § 500 ; King County v. Seattle School District No. 1 (1923) 263 U.S. 361 [ 68 L.Ed. 339 , 44 S.Ct. 127 ].) California law directs distribution of forest reserve receipts among the counties in proportion to their respective shares of the total forest reserves within the state; the counties are to spend half the money for roads, half the money for schools. (Gov. Code, §§ 29481, 29484.) This lawsuit, embodies a dispute over the application of Education Code section 20251, which prescribes the formula for distributing forest reserve money among school districts within the county.

According to the statutory formula, 15 percent of the educational portion may be allocated for the improvement of educational programs anywhere in the county; the remainder is to be apportioned by the county superintendent of schools, with the approval of the county board of education, among the school districts “lying within or adjacent to the United States forest reserve .. . .”

The quoted language and its…