AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Supreme Court today issued their ruling on the state’s school finance system, calling for a complete overhaul. In their ruling, the court took to task an inefficient system rife with “constitutional challenges,” noting that simply “pouring more money into the system may forestall those challenges, but only for a time.”
The court also noted that “public education could benefit from more competition.”
The president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Brooke Rollins, said the ruling only underscores the key findings of the research and positions taken by the Foundation.
“It is critical that legislators address the systemic inefficiencies plaguing Texas schools, not spend more money,” said Rollins. “We look forward to continuing to work with the legislature in seeking public policy solutions that efficiently drive academic achievement for all students.”
Rollins noted that the court criticized school districts as “firmly entrenched and powerfully resistant to meaningful change.”
On the issue of inserting more money into the system, the wisely court stated: “While the end-product of public education is related to the resources available for its use, the relationship is neither simple nor direct; public education can and often does improve with greater resources, just as it struggles when resources are withheld, but more money does not guarantee better schools or more educated students.”
Rollins also pointed to the dissent offered by Justice Scott Brister, reminding Texans that the guarantee of public education “belongs to school children rather than school districts.”