Texas school finance trial begins in Austin | Trail Blazers Blog

Hundreds of Texas school districts began making their case for increased funding at the start of the long-awaited trial on the state?s school finance system Monday. Attorneys for the four main plaintiff groups made their opening statements before state District Judge John Dietz, who is scheduled to listen to at least six weeks of testimony before he issues a ruling in the case early next year. Dietz has said he hopes to have his decision out so it can be reviewed by the Legislature in its 2013 session, although most experts predict the case will be appealed by the losing party to the Texas Supreme Court.

The opening arguments focused on the unprecedented funding cuts for schools imposed by the Legislature last year to help balance the state budget. At the same time the state was slashing funding for the public schools, the Legislature also installed a new student testing program ? the STAAR ? that is far more difficult than what it replaced, the TAKS. ?The bar has been raised, yet the hands of school administrators have been tied behind their backs,? said Austin lawyer Rick Gray, who is representing more than 400 low and medium-wealth school districts who sued the state. ?Rich districts can?t get the job done any more than the poor districts I represent,? he said.

Houston lawyer David Thompson, who is representing Dallas, Fort Worth and dozens of other urban and suburban districts, said the state has cut funding about $500 per student at a time when 60 percent of the state enrollment is considered economically disadvantaged and more expensive to educate. Thompson noted that two of three low-income students failed one or more of the new high school end-of-course tests and 90 percent of those students were found to be off track on the path to graduation. He argued that it is unconstitutional for the Legislature to set new goals and then fail to provide the funds to achieve those goals. ?Our broken funding system simply does not meet the high expectations and clear duties of the Texas Constitution,? he said.

This entry was posted in Issues, Legislature 2013 by Terrence Stutz/Reporter. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/texas-school-finance-trial-begins-in-austin.html/

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