Timeline of Legislation and Lawsuits in Texas School Funding

1949 - Gilmer-Aiken Act

• First comprehensive system for Texas school funding.
• Guaranteed a minimum amount of funds per student and allowed local enrichment.
• 80 percent of educational funding came from the state level.
• Provided for minimum teacher salaries and altered how school districts were zoned.

1971-1973 - Rodriguez v. San Antonio I.S.D.

• Though districts were encouraged to develop special education programs with matching state funds, poorer school districts were unable to take part in the program, increasing inequality among districts.
• Thus, the lawsuit was filed to challenge what it described as a "violation of equal protection."
• The district court sided with the plaintiff.
• The U.S. Supreme Court, however, reversed the ruling, finding that the system met the benchmarks of furthering state education goals while supporting local control provisions.

1989 - Edgewood I.S.D. v. Kirby (I)

• In this suit, property-poor districts challenged the second tier of financing created under the 1975 Foundation School Program law, claiming it to create unfair inequity in funding.
• The trial court found the system violated the Texas Constitution. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's decision.
• The Texas Supreme Court found that the system was "neither financially efficient nor efficient in the sense of providing for a 'general diffusion of knowledge' statewide, and therefore it violates article VII, section 1 of the Texas Constitution."

1991 - Edgewood I.S.D. v. Kirby (II)

• In response to the 1989 case, the Texas Legislature adopted SB 1 in 1990, which required biennial studies on district inequity, followed by adjustments to address the gaps. The mechanism for funding remained the same.
• The Texas Supreme Court found the system remained unconstitutional.

1992 - Carrollton-Farmers Branch I.S.D. v. Edgewood I.S.D.

• In 1991, the Legislature passed House Bill 351, which created 188 County Education districts-which were allowed to levy state-mandated property taxes and redistribute the revenues to member districts.
• Districts sued, asserting that HB 351 levied a state ad valorem tax in violation of Texas Constitution Article VIII.
• The Texas Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs and found the bill unconstitutional.

1995 - Edgewood I.S.D. v. Meno

• In 1993, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 7 which, instead of a state property tax, created a provision-known as "recapture"-that redistributed property tax dollars to create equity.
• School districts of all economic strata sued on the same grounds as in the 1991 and 1992 cases.
• The Texas Supreme Court found for the defense, upholding the system.

2001 - West Orange-Cove Consolidated I.S.D. v. Alanis et. al.

• In this case, plaintiff school districts argue that, because they must levy the maximum property tax rate to maintain equity, the local property tax has become equivalent to a state ad valorem tax, which is prohibited by the Texas Constitution.
• In March 2003, the suit was argued before the Texas Supreme Court, which ruled that the case should not have been dismissed by an appeals court and sent it back to Texas ' 250th Judicial Court in Travis County for a trial.

2004 - West Orange-Cove Consolidated I.S.D. v. Neeley et. al.

• Judge John Dietz, the Travis County trial court judge declared:
  • The state’s school finance system fails to provide an adequate, suitable education as required by Article VII, section 1 of the Texas Constitution
  • Some districts are forced to tax at the $1.50 cap on maintenance and operations taxes, violating the Texas Constitution
  • The Texas school finance system is not financially efficient or efficient in the sense of providing for the mandated adequate education.
  • The system for funding school facilities is inadequate and violates the Texas Constitution
• The judge issued an injunction against state spending for education if the Texas Legislature does not remedy the problems of the funding system by October 1, 2005.