• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Justices Take Up School Finance

Posted on: Thursday, 7 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

Jul. 7--AUSTIN -- Texas has failed its schoolchildren and forced an unconstitutional tax scheme on its citizenry through an illegal school finance system, attorneys for school districts argued Wednesday before the Texas Supreme Court.

But the state's top trial lawyer said school finance is an issue more properly left to the Legislature. Otherwise, "this becomes a morass that the court cannot escape," Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz told the justices.

For the sixth time in 20 years, the state's top court has taken up the thorny issue of school finance. The question is whether Texas operates an unconstitutional school finance system that inadequately funds schools and robs districts of meaningful discretion over their tax rates.

Last year, a trial court sided with a coalition of 300 property-wealthy and property-poor districts and gave the state until Oct. 1 to fix problems or face a possible shutdown of schools.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments and will probably issue a ruling in the coming weeks or months.

"Do we appoint a master? Do we take over schools?" said Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, outlining possible court remedies if it should rule against the state.

But Cruz, the attorney general's top litigator, said the academic performance of children continues to improve under the current system. In addition, districts have plenty of discretion in their spending, he said.

Cruz echoed a warning by John Cornyn, a former state Supreme Court justice who is now a U.S. senator, against entering a "judicial purgatory" where the court finds itself litigating the same case over and over.

"If the plaintiffs' standard applies, [the state] will be sued each time it doesn't reach perfection," he said.

But attorneys for the school districts cited estimates that at least 30 percent of high school students fail to graduate. They also noted that the state's own education experts have said that Texas shortchanges certain student groups, such as those with limited English proficiency.

"Is the state providing a general diffusion of knowledge to its students when over 30 percent of its students never graduated from high school?" lawyer Buck Wood asked the court.

The lawyers also reiterated their arguments that school districts lack meaningful discretion over setting property tax rates. To meet their most basic needs, a majority of districts must tax at or near the top rate of $1.50 per $100 of assessed property value for school operations, the plaintiffs' attorneys have argued.

"We respectfully and vigorously disagree with the state's statement that things are fine," said David Thompson, another lawyer representing districts.

The Supreme Court hearings come during the third week of a special legislative session on school finance. Gov. Rick Perry called lawmakers back to Austin after they failed to reach an agreement on school finance during the regular session that ended May 30.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Tom Craddick suggested that the courts are not likely to be satisfied by school reform bills pending before the Legislature.

The legislation "doesn't solve all the problems we've got," Craddick told reporters. "It doesn't solve the statewide property tax avenue of it. ... It would temporarily give you some more room to move, but I don't think it solves the problem over the long haul."

Later in the day, Craddick stepped away from those comments.

"I want to emphasize that I am not a lawyer," he said in a prepared statement. "Nevertheless, I do think that together the two bills will establish a fair and constitutionally sound school finance system, and we hope that it will pass muster with the courts."

The House spent Wednesday debating one of the measures, House Bill 3, which would lower school district property taxes in exchange for new, expanded or increased sales and business taxes.

The House and Senate have already passed separate versions of House Bill 2, which dictates how the money would be spent. A conference committee must now work out differences in the versions.

The special session is scheduled to end July 20.

-----

To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

More News in this Category