The Nation : Texas School Funding Ruled Unlawful

The Texas Supreme Court found “glaring disparities” between the state’s rich and poor school districts and ruled that funding within the nation’s second-largest system is unconstitutional. Spending varies by as much as $17,000 per pupil per year from rich to poor districts, the court found. The 9-0 ruling could have enormous financial and social implications for the 3.3-million-student Texas school system. The court found that the public school finance system violates the 113-year-old constitutional provision for an “efficient system” of public schools. It set a May 1, 1990, deadline for legislators to find a solution. The court said the state’s school financing system is efficient neither financially nor in the sense of providing for a “general diffusion of knowledge.” Public schools are funded largely through a combination of local property taxes and state aid.