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.