Constitutional Inequities: A Review of Litigation and an Empirical Analysis of Equity in Texas Schools

• In Event: 41.083 - Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 41.083-1 - Educational Equity, Access, and Teacher Misconduct in Texas Schools: Lessons on Law and Policy

Abstract

In Texas, the public education system’s task of providing equal educational opportunity is complicated by the incorporation of property wealth and locally controlled taxing authority into the funding mechanism. The unceasing conflict among wealthy districts’ desire to keep their property tax revenue local and the need to provide additional revenue to support the poor districts has been the source of litigation across forty years of school finance. In light of a recent Supreme Court ruling, this study provides a review of the litigation that shaped the definition of equity in Texas and examines the current constitutional inequities of the school finance system with an empirical equity analysis of school district revenues.

Authors

• Toni Templeton, University of Houston

• R. Anthony Rolle, University of Houston - College of Education