Judge Orders Fairer Texas School Funds
Texas’ system of funding public schools is unconstitutional, a judge ruled today.
The ruling by State District Judge Harley Clark capped a bitter, 2 1/2-month court battle that had come down to one question: Should Texas give more state school aid to property-poor school districts than to those with lots of rich taxpayers?
In a courtroom packed with school officials, Clark said that under the present distribution of combined local and state funds, students in poorer districts don’t have as good a chance for a quality education as those in wealthier districts.
He said he found nothing during the trial to justify continued discrimination against poorer school districts in receiving financial aid from the state.
He ordered the present system replaced with one more equitable and constitutional, and set a May 11 hearing date for a possible injunction against the state.
Texas Education Commissioner William Kirby said the state will appeal.
“We remain firmly convinced that Texas’ system of public school finance meets the constitutional test of equity,” Kirby said.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed in 1985 by 67 property-poor school districts.
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