Membership in the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition surpassed 200 soon after the group filed a lawsuit Oct. 12 against the state claiming the current school finance system is unfair and violates the State Constitution.
Last week six El Paso school districts joined the lawsuit as well.
In addition, the Austin Independent School District board voted Oct. 25 to join a similar lawsuit filed by several school districts represented by Thompson & Horton LLP. Their suit will appeal an “unconstitutional” statewide property tax that they say doesn’t allow them to provide students with an adequate education.
Austin ISD administrators said in agenda documents that the district should join in suing because “the current system of school finance in Texas fails to address growth. Not only does it fail to fund growth in student population, it fails to meet the increasing needs of higher expectations and more rigorous standards required by the State and the increase in student needs such as poverty and limited English proficiency.”
The lawsuit by the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition argues that lawmakers created a de-facto statewide property tax by imposing unfunded mandates on school districts that force them to tax at the maximum rate. It also contends that there is a wide disparity in the distribution of education funding.
The coalition is working with the Austin-based nonprofit Equity Center, which represents nearly 700 school districts mostly considered property poor.
Lead attorney Rick Gray said, “The state has created a system that, built into it, has inherent disadvantages to taxpayers and students living in low-wealth districts…People are not being treated equally when it comes to the education dollar.”
Texas’ current system has some school districts receiving less than $5,000 annually per student, while others receive more than $11,000 per student.
For example, Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso taxes at $1.17, the maximum rate allowed by the state, for maintenance and operations. The district raises about $5,584 per student based on average daily attendance, according to Texas Education Agency and Equity Center estimates. But, Austin ISD, which taxes at a lower rate of $1.08, will receive about $6,543 per student for the current school year.
With a $1.04 tax rate, Anthony ISD collects $5,292 per student based on average daily attendance, according to TEA and Equity Center estimates. Yet, Borden County ISD, located in the oil-rich Texas Panhandle, receives about $14,112 per student despite taxing at the same rate.
Lauren Cook, spokeswoman for the Equity Center, said a legal challenge was brewing well before lawmakers cut billions from public education to help close a $27-billion budget shortfall.
