Higher wealth school districts challenge funding law in court
Texas was hit with another lawsuit challenging the state's school funding system on Friday as 60 higher wealth school districts - now contributing more than $1 billion a year in "Robin Hood" payments - argued that the Legislature has failed to adequately fund public education. Three Dallas-area districts - Frisco, Lewisville and Richardson - are among the six plaintiff school districts that filed the suit, which also contends the funding system is predicated on an illegal statewide property tax rate that restricts how much they can raise through local property taxes.
Among the other 54 districts that are helping finance the suit are several from North Texas, including Grapevine-Colleyville, Highland Park, Plano, Rockwall and Sunnyvale. "The Texas school finance system is in crisis again," said Mark Trachtenberg, attorney for the school districts that are all members of the Texas School Coalition. "The current system does not meet the constitutional definition of adequacy and denies local districts the ability to address that inadequacy. This lawsuit will demonstrate that