Sep
27
Written by:
William Lutz
9/27/2011 11:11 AM
Your tax dollars at work. More than 100 school districts have announced intention to sue the state, challenging the equity of the school finance system. The aim of such lawsuits -- as usual -- is to prompt the Legislature to put more money into the school system by raising the prospect of a school shutdown.
The main basis for the lawsuit is likely the "target revenue" system added to school finance in 2006. Target revenue was designed to be temporary but became permanent. The state took a snapshot in 2006, and some school districts got extra money, some did not, and that distinction largely depended upon what happened with property values in the year prior. Legislators have committed to abolishing target revenue by 2017. As skeptical as LSR has traditionally been of appropriation by litigation, the inequities created by target revenue are hard to defend. The lawsuit makes it a virtual certainty that school finance will be a major issue in the 2013 session and beyond.
“We believe litigation is the only way to ensure taxpayer equity and a quality education for Texas children," said the Equity Center's Executive Director Wayne Pierce. "We must litigate for a school finance system that makes sense and is fair to all children, taxpayers, and districts.”