Christy Rome

Executive Director

Texas School Coalition

Texas Association of Community Schools Conference

Court Decision Legislative Response

Edgewood I (1989) Senate Bill 1 (1990)

Edgewood II (1991) Senate Bill 351 (1991)

Edgewood III (1992) Prop. 1 (failed), SB 7 (1993)

Edgewood IV (1995) System found constitutional

West Orange-Cove (2005)

House Bill 1 (2006)

From the Courthouse to the Capitol

Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition Plaintiffs (Equity Center): 414 districts (1.4 million students); Claims: Equity, Adequacy, and Statewide Property Tax

Edgewood ISD Plaintiffs (MALDEF): 5 districts; Claims: Equity, Adequacy

Fort Bend ISD Plaintiffs: 84 districts (1.8 million students); Claims: Efficiency, Adequacy, Statewide Property Tax

Calhoun County ISD Plaintiffs: 88 districts (378,000 students); Claims: Adequacy, Statewide Property Tax

Efficiency Interveners Charter School Interveners

Who’s Who in the School Finance Trial

By the numbers

Trial: 45 days (over 13 weeks), with over 80 witnesses & more than 5,000 exhibits

Supplemental hearing: 11 days (over 3 weeks), with 12 additional witnesses and more than 700 exhibits

4 year process (so far), spanning 2 regular legislative sessions

“No State ad valorem taxes shall be levied upon any property within this State.”

- Texas Constitution,Article VIII, Section 1-e

Statewide Property Tax

Statewide Property Tax – from WOC II

“ The State cannot provide for local supplementation, pressure most of the districts by increasing accreditation standards in an environment of increasing costs to tax at maximum rates in order to afford any supplementation at all, and then argue that it is not controlling local tax rates.”

Statewide Property Tax – from WOC II

“ … we are constrained to caution, as we have before, that a cap to which districts are inexorably forced by educational requirements and economic necessities, as they have been under Senate Bill 7, will in short order violate the prohibition of a state property tax.”

Statewide Property Tax – from WOC II

“ … we are constrained to caution, as we have before, that a cap to which districts are inexorably forced by educational requirements and economic necessities, as they have been under Senate Bill 7, will in short order violate the prohibition of a state property tax.”

$1.50$1.25$1.00$.75$.50$.25

2004

$1.50$1.25$1.00$.75$.50$.25

2006 Restructuring(post WOC II)

$1.00$.75$.50$.25 $1.50$1.25$1.00$.75$.50$.25

2006 Restructuring(post WOC II)

Enrichment

$1.00$.75$.50$.25

2006 Restructuring(post WOC II)

$1.04(TRE)

$1.17

$1.00$.75$.50$.25

Enrichment

$1.17

GDK

HB3

CCRS (curriculum changes)

STAAR/EOC

Increase in ELL/Econ. Disadvantaged

$1.04(TRE)

Changes since 20062006 Restructuring(post WOC II)

Enrichment

$1.00$.75$.50$.25

$1.17

GDK

HB3

CCRS (curriculum changes)

STAAR/EOC

Increase in ELL/Econ. Disadvantaged

$1.04(TRE)

What should have happened

“A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.”

- Article VII, Section 1

Constitutional Adequacy

July 6, 2005

July 6, 2005

Public Education Revenue Over Time

Source: Legislative Budget Board

With the exception of 2013, funding is lower than any other time in the last in the past 10 years in constant dollars.

July 6, 2005

“it’s really hard to fathom…that if Texas policymakers began with a blank sheet of paper today that they would create anything resembling sort of the complex sort of Rube Goldberg kind of contraption that we have that seems to lurch from one lawsuit to another Band-Aid on top of Band-Aid, on top of Post-it note, on top of paperclip sort of all bound together with a rubber band…” - Justice Willett

The Goldberg Pencil Sharpener

$6.4 billion was left in General Revenue beneath the pay-as-you go limit

$2.9 billion remaining under spending limit

Plus $11.1 billion in the Rainy Day Fund

What was left (the good news)

ASATR

Additional State Aid for Tax Reduction

Additional State Aid for Homestead Exemption

No cuts

No losers

We must all row in the same direction!