Marble Falls, Burnet leaders praise ruling on school finance

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

AUSTIN — When State District Judge John Dietz ruled Aug. 28 that the Texas school finance system was unconstitutional, he wasn’t telling local school superintendents something they didn’t already know.

“It’s a broken system,” said Rob O’Connor, the Marble Falls Independent School District superintendent. “I think the judge’s ruling makes it apparent to everybody else what’s obvious to all of us in education: The system is broken, and we need to get it right.”

Though the district judge made his ruling, he likely won’t have the final say in the matter.

“(The Aug. 28) decision is just the first step on a very familiar path for school finance litigation in Texas,” said Texas Commissioner of Education Michael Williams. “Regardless of the ruling at the district court level, all sides have known this is an issue that will again be resolved by the Texas Supreme Court.”

In October 2012, several school districts consolidated their individual lawsuits against the state over how it finances public elementary and secondary education. The trial lasted 45 days, and Dietz ruled the system was unconstitutional on several points, but he opted to hold off implementing the ruling until after the 2013 state Legislature had a chance to rework school finance.

After the legislative session, the court reopened the evidence to consider how any laws impacted the school finance system.

In the end, Dietz again found the system unconstitutional.

He wrote in his opinion, “the Court finds that the Texas school finance system effectively imposes a state property tax in violation of Article VIII, Section 1-e of the Texas Constitution because school districts do not have the meaningful discretion over the levy, assessment, and disbursement of local property taxes.”

Dietz added the Legislature “has failed to meet its constitutional duty to suitably provide for Texas public schools because the school finance system is structured, operated, and funded so that it cannot provide a constitutionally adequate education for all Texas schoolchildren.”

He went on to add Texas students don’t have equal access to the same level of education because of the lack of educational funding.

“I am very pleased with Judge Diez’s ruling, and I’m cautiously optimistic as to what it might mean for Burnet CISD and school districts across the state in the future,” said Keith McBurnett, the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District superintendent. “The decision reaffirms what we have known for years, and that is the current school finance system is not equitable and it does not provide adequate funding to meet the goals established by the state.”

This isn’t the first time the courts have weighed in on school finance. The Texas Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling in 2005 regarding the constitutionality of school finance that forced state legislators to rework the system during the next legislative session.

The session brought about the current system, which was supposedly created to make districts less dependent on local property taxes. At the time of the 2005 lawsuit, several school districts contended the school finance system basically forced a state property tax — a claim echoed in the current lawsuit.

At the time, many districts argued that, under the school finance system, they were being forced to raise their local property taxes to or near the state-mandated cap of $1.50 per $100 valuation for maintenance and operation.

The Legislature crafted new rules that would supposedly offer local districts, as well as property owners, some relief, which is the current school finance system.

But several of the districts that participated in the current lawsuit contend the school finance system has again forced them to push their local property tax rates to near or at the state cap.

In 2011, Texas legislators slashed about $5.4 billion from public school funding to help cover a severe state budgetary shortfall. This left school districts reeling as they found themselves cutting away at their budgets as well.

State leaders did bump up public school financing by $3.4 billion during the last session, but school officials still believe it’s woefully inadequate.

“2006 is the last time Texas has actually increased public school spending,” O’Connor said. “They did put some of the funding back in they initially cut (in 2011), but it’s not near enough compared to the needs of Texas public schools.”

Student enrollment in kindergarten through 12th grade in Texas public schools jumped from 4.7 million during the 2010-2011 academic year to 4.9 million during the 2013-2014 academic year.

School officials said the state has also upped the expectations and educational requirements during the past several years without providing additional funding.

“A school funding system must include enough money to meet the state’s educational goals while also accounting for enrollment growth and inflation,” McBurnett said. “The system must also account for varying needs of students while making sure that the same resources are available to each child. The Legislature has a very difficult job ahead of them in addressing this issue, but the work must be done sooner than later.”

Whatever the Texas Supreme Court decides, it’s just as likely the matter will end up in the hands of the Legislature.

“Texas is committed to finding solutions to educate every student in the classroom,” Williams said. “However, it should be our state leaders making those decisions, not a single judge. Any revisions to our school finance system must be made by members of the Texas Legislature. The Texas Education Agency will continue to carry out its responsibilities in providing funding for our public schools based on the current system and ultimately the legislative decisions made at the end of this legal process.”

editor@thepicayune.com