Posted on 08/28/2014 6:06:11 PM PDT by NYTexan
AUSTIN — Nearly three years after more than 600 Texas school districts sued the state challenging the school finance system, a Travis County judge has ruled in their favor.
In an almost 400-page opinion released Thursday, state District Judge John Dietz said that the state’s school finance system is unconstitutional not only because of inadequate funding and flaws in the way it distributes money to districts, but also because it imposes a de facto state property tax.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office, which had argued that the system was flawed but nonetheless constitutional, said Thursday that the state “will appeal and will defend this law, just as it defends all laws enacted by the Legislature when they are challenged in court.”
That means the suit, filed after lawmakers cut roughly $5.4 billion from state public education funding in 2011, will now continue to the Texas Supreme Court. Though Dietz made no public remarks on Thursday, his decision is a reprise of an oral ruling in February 2013. From the bench at the time, Dietz discussed what he called the “civic, altruistic and economic” reasons for supporting public education.
“We realize that others provided for us when we were children. We realize that children are without means to secure their education. Just as others provided for us when we were in school, now is the time when we provide for others,” he said, going on to describe the societal benefits of a well-educated population: lower crime rates, fewer people who need public assistance and a greater state income.
(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...
No wonder the kids can't learn to read, write and do arithmetic.
/johnny
I've met some pretty cool trained monkeys that weren't nearly as destructive.
/johnny
This may actually lower property taxes.
Kerr County here. Believe me - we do ... and then some.
Hispanic: 1,894,489
Houston...we have a problem!
Is Kerr County a plaintiff in the lawsuit mentioned in the article?
You have James Avery to help. IJS...he’s my boss. :)
I’m not holding my breath...
The staff is the size of the US Army!
"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
With NH though there are some towns where the rates are quite low. There are also no sales or earned income taxes.
Thanks for the ping!
That’s nice...But does NH have 1.9 M Hispanics in their school systems?
Not sure but I doubt it.
Good luck get’n that past the NEA lobby!
A great organization. I drive by there often. They do beautiful work.
I love James Avery jewelry, especially the crosses. I wear one every day.
Why, after all, that's all it really is.
With overpaid unionthug babysitters.
I’m proud to hear that my FReeper friends have and wear James Avery jewelry. It’s excellent quality!
You should drive on in sometimes. It’s a beautiful campus and the people are the best! :)
I would love to live in the hill country around Kerrville!
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