The Legacy of Rodriguez: Three Decades of School Finance Reform in Texas
Abstract
This paper explores the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme
Court's 1973 Rodriquez ruling that said Texas's heavy reliance on
the local property tax to fund public education did not violate the
equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. The authors assess
whether Texas has achieved the school funding equity objectives that
were at the core of the Rodriguez plaintiffs case and whether the
current school funding system in Texas is providing school districts
with sufficient revenues to educate students to meet the performance
standards imposed by the state.