Educators and lawmakers react to court's school finance ruling.

Publication: Waco Tribune-Herald (Waco, Texas) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Waco Tribune-Herald

Nov. 23--The Texas Supreme Court declared the state's school finance system unconstitutional Tuesday and gave the Legislature six months to fix it.

In a 7-1 ruling, the state's highest court declared the state's $1.50 cap on local school property tax rates unconstitutional, saying it had become a de facto state property tax. But the court rejected the ruling of a district judge who said the lack of overall funding in the system violates the Texas Constitution. School finance case: A quick primer

The decision, however, pointed to a "drift toward constitutional inadequacy" in the quality of Texas public education, leaving the door open to legal challenges unless legislators reform the system.

Both sides of the lawsuit leading to the court's ruling claimed partial victories while local educators and politicians attempted to decipher the implications of the long-awaited opinion.

The plaintiff's lawyers in the case, representing hundreds of school districts across the state including Axtell, Bruceville-Eddy, China Spring,

Crawford and Lorena, said the opinion was a "shot across the bow" for Texas legislators to recognize the need for "big picture" reforms that will put the state's public school finance system on...

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