By Jennifer Bendery, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
After months of sour rumors relating to the release of the final court ruling on school finance reform, the Texas Supreme Court today issued its long-anticipated decision regarding the constitutionality of the state's public school financing system. In a 7 to 1 ruling, the high court declared that Texas' statewide cap at $1.50 per $100 valuation on property taxes is unconstitutional but found that public schools are equitable and adequately funded.
In issuing today's opinion, justices disagreed with a ruling made last year by Travis County District Judge John Dietz, who said the lack of overall funding in Texas schools violated the Texas Constitution. So what happens now? The Texas Legislature has until June 1, 2006, to come up with a plan to fix the system.
Retired state district judge Scott McCown, who presided over all of Texas' public school finance cases from 1990 to 2002 and who is currently director for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, described today's ruling as "mostly a victory for public education." The high court has provided "important guidance" to the legislature, he said, and called attention to three critical points in the ruling.
First, regarding the unconstitutionality of a state property tax, McCown said the high court went "out of its way" to state that merely reducing local property taxes does not satisfy constitutional requirements. This means that the legislature "can't simply reduce and cap property taxes," he said. Second, while justices found the school finance system to be adequate, the language in their opinion shows they are "obviously worried" about the future of the system without increased funding or improved efficiencies, said McCown. Third, the court reaffirmed that children in poor districts deserve the same educational opportunities as children in rich districts, he said. The court's opinion paints a picture "of a very inequitable system," said McCown, despite "reluctantly concluding that it cannot say that these present inequities render the entire system inefficient."
Several state legislators were quick to respond to today's ruling and the daunting task ahead: finding consensus on a tax reform bill that receives support from both parties and both chambers.
"I accept today's Texas Supreme Court decision and I am committed to finding a fair, equitable and constitutional alternative to the current school finance system," said House Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland). Noting that legislators have six months to address the issue, which they failed pass in three sessions earlier this year, Craddick said he looks forward to "working closely with Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to find a solution that will appropriately answer the Court's ruling."
Rep. Kent Grusendorf (R-Arlington), who earlier this year authored a major education reform bill backed by the House leadership but failed to pass it, applauded the high court for the "time and effort" put into today's ruling. "The Supreme Court confirmed what many of us have said for some time: Texas has an unconstitutional statewide property tax that must be corrected," he said. "I have confidence that our state leadership will work together to craft a system that will address the court's decision."
Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), who also offered but failed to pass a school finance bill this year, said today's Supreme Court ruling is welcome. "The ruling tells us something we have known for a long time," she said. "Our school finance system has evolved into an unconstitutional statewide property tax. That is what the legislature is charged to fix by June 1st and we will." The Plano legislator noted that the legislature "would be remiss" not to take up education reforms related to efficiency and adequacy.
Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) said the effect of the Supreme Court ruling is two-fold. "It takes the option of doing nothing off the table and provides a deadline for property tax reform," she said. "In the larger picture, it affirms what many of us who opposed Robin Hood from the beginning have been saying for a very long time. The current system amounts to a statewide property tax." Now that this issue has been put to rest, it is "much more likely" that the legislature will be able to reach consensus on ways to reduce property taxes and raise teacher pay, said Nelson.
Sen. Todd Staples (R-Palestine) said that without question, today's court decision indicates that the legislature must find a substitute for the current system. Still, while legislators must find a way to lower property taxes immediately, people also need to remember that tax rates did not rise to the current level overnight, he said. One option to consider is one of "incremental progress on rate reduction," said Staples, which would help to prevent a disruption in the growing economy. The Palestine legislator added that while the court ruled that facility funding is constitutional, the disparagement between Texas' best and worst school facilities is "significant enough for lower courts to rule it unacceptable."
Still, other state leaders praised the high court for holding that the current school finance system is adequate and equitable. Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley said she is "pleased that the court has confirmed the integrity of the Texas performance-based accountability system." She noted that the ruling allows state funding to school districts to continue for the remainder of the school year.
Gov. Rick Perry described today's ruling as "an important victory" because it reaffirms that the level of school funding is constitutional and validates the demands of taxpayers "fed up with property tax bills that climb higher and higher with each passing year." He said he is pleased that the court agrees with him that "simply pouring more money into the same system" will not alleviate problems with rising property taxes. The governor said he will call lawmakers into a special session "at an appropriate time" before the June 1st deadline imposed by the high court.
Perry said it is important to note that while $10 billion in increased state funding since 1999 has had a "positive and measurable impact" on Texas schools, it is possible to implement new reforms that improve student success "without necessarily spending additional dollars." Still, he said he will continue to advocate "real classroom reforms," such as higher teacher pay and stronger accountability for failing schools.
Attorney General Greg Abbott said today's decision shows that the high court recognizes the "high standards set by the Texas Legislature" are being achieved at school districts around the state. "Just because we can do a better job does not mean that the job being done now is unconstitutional," he said. "This is a victory for democracy because it ensures that decisions about education policymaking will remain in the elected Legislature rather than the courts."
Not everyone was ready to call today's ruling a victory, however. House Democratic Leaders Jim Dunnam (D-Waco), Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) and Pete Gallego (D-Alpine) today called on the governor to bring legislators back into a special session immediately to pass a school finance plan that fully funds schools and provides real property tax relief.
"The all-Republican Texas Supreme Court once again confirmed today that the Republican Legislature failed Texas schoolchildren, failed Texas taxpayers, failed Texas schools, failed Texas parents, failed Texas teachers and failed the test of leadership over the last two years," said Gallego.
Coleman noted that the Supreme Court warned that the public school system "is drifting toward constitutional inadequacy" and that simply swapping out a statewide property tax for another tax won't fully fund public schools. And on the issue of adequacy, the high court said the public school system will face additional court challenges in the future unless the legislature and the governor come up with long-term solutions, said Coleman.
Dunnam said the court describes an "absence of agreement" in the legislature as the primary roadblock to improving public schools. But this "absence of agreement" is really "an absence of leadership" by the governor, lt. governor and House Speaker, he said. "If the Republican leadership can't get their act together and put forth a real solution, they will have to explain to the voters next November why they are shutting down our schools on June 1st," said the Waco legislator.
Rep. Juan Escobar (D-El Paso) also expressed his disappointment in today's court decision, which he described as "almost the worst possible ruling for the children of South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley." Issues of funding and adequacy must be addressed, he said. By limiting its decision to the property tax question, the high court has allowed the state to continue providing children "with less of a chance for a quality education than is possible in richer areas of Texas."
Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville) echoed Escobar's sentiments. He described today's ruling as "discouraging but not surprising" since it was expected that the high court would only agree with the unconstitutional nature of the state property tax issue. While he said he agrees that some local taxpayers are carrying too much of the burden of funding public education, the Supreme Court "did not go far enough with regard to the other challenges."
The Brownsville legislator noted that the Senate already passed a school finance reform plan "with an exceptionally high degree of equity." Today's decision reinforces that the legislature take a closer look at that Senate proposal in the next session, he said. One thing that was "especially aggravating" is that the high court "implied that more evidence is needed to render a decision on facilities," said Lucio. He said he has struggled for several sessions to persuade the legislature that facility inequities exist for fast-growth and property poor school districts.
"I will continue to fight for better permanent classrooms for our school children," said Lucio. "I am going to insist that the Alvarado plaintiffs provide the additional evidence necessary to show that inequity in school facilities are present in this state."
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell said he strongly disagreed with the Supreme Court's opinion that public education funding in Texas is adequate. "School spending in Texas is well below the national average and unfortunately we can only get out of our classrooms what we're willing to put into them," he said. The fact that the high court determined the state's "sub-par public education system" to be acceptable is "an insult to the schoolchildren, parents and educators of the state of Texas," said Bell.
Bell called for more investment in public education in Texas and said the governor now has a choice. "He can either hide behind black robes on the Supreme Court or his hand-picked campaign donors on the tax commission, or he can show real leadership and fight to give our public schools the resources they need to thrive," he said.
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