The Colony Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 34, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 12, 1989 Page: 12 of 35
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12A The Colony Leader, Wednesday, July 12, 1989
State as seen losing public school finance case
By DANA PALMER 50-50 chance the state will lose this the state was going to have to spend through "regional taxing authorities" San Antonio, said he thought the quirement somewhere in the Texas
: and BEVERLY MARTINDALE case.” more money because just spreading or consolidations in some cases. poor districts "put up a compelling Constitution.
, Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau Mattox told reporters that his around current funds would leave Rep. Irma Rangel, D-Kingsville, case about the issues and the state The state's lead attorney, O'Han-
reading of the court and its questions "everybody mediocre." said the court's questions "indicate jumped around them." Edgewood is lon argued that, while funding dis-
AUSTIN — Critics of the current indicated “there clearly could be a Reacting to comments by attor- that maybe they are prepared to give the lead district in the lawsuit against parities exist, they are not unconsti-
: public school finance system were majority (on the court) that would neys for poor school districts about us a new system, since we (the state Education Commissioner Wil- tutional, and the court would have to
: delighted Wednesday that the Texas rule that the system is unconstitu- why the legislature hasn't dealt with legislators) failed to do our duty." liam Kirby and other state officials. overturn a number of previous court
/ Supreme Court kept what tional" unequal school finance, Gonzalez Her comments referred to the However, Assistant Attorney decisions to declare it unconstitu-
should be done if the court declares Several justices, including Raul acknowledged that poor people do Legislature S decision in May to General Kevin O Hanlon said it S tional.
the funding scheme unconstitu Gonzales, Oscar Mauzy and Lloyd not have an effective lobby" com- pump an extra $450million into pub- hard to read how the court might "How much money we spend on
tional. - Doggett, asked questions that pared with rich districts. lic schools rather than fund a prop- rule based only on the questions the our children should not be a matter
Even Texas Attorney General Jim seemed to indicate they saw prob- Attorneys for poor districts osed $1.2 billion ‘down payment justices asked. . for the courts, O Hanlon said.
1 Mattox, who defends the current lems in the current funding system. argued that more funds will be toward an equalized system. , As he said he told the court, ev- . As long as you have a system
system as unfair but constitutional Justice Nathan Hecht asked a needed but not as much if the system James Vasquez, superintendent ery time you try to fix a remedy, you that is tied to local propertytax base,
, said after the hearing that “there's a number of questions indicating that could be made more efficient of the Edgewood School District in run into a problem" with another re- it s not going to be equal, he said.
1That's also the case with all other
services provided through local gov-
ernments, he said.
Still, Mattox said he believes the
questions indicated "the court was
uneasy about what kind of remedy it
should fashion" if it found the current
school finance system unconstitu-
tional.
Mattox and several legislators and
members of the State Board of
Education who attended the packed
hearing, also called on Gov. Bill Cle-
ments to add the topic to the special
legislative session agenda in order to
save a time and trouble later should
the ruling go against the state.
A ruling in the Edgewood vs. Kir-
by lawsuit could come as early as
September or October, several
attorneys said.
State District Judge Harley Clark,
who declared the system unconsti-
tutional in 1987, said it must be re-
vamped by September 1990, but the
Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals
overturned that ruling in December.
In arguing the case for the poor
districts, San Antonio attorney Al
Kauffman said students in low-
wealth districts "do not have equal
rights, and what is worse, wealthy
districts have special privileges, and
that has been instituted by the
Legislature."
Kauffman, with the Mexican
American Legal Defense and Educa-
tional Fund, argued that the current
system of funding public education
with a combination of state funds and
local property taxes is inefficient and
that property-poor school districts
are at a disadvantage because their
tax base is so low.
Lewisville Independent School
District Superintendent Clayton
Downing said last week that LISD
has a higher tax rate than the Edge-
wood district and yet Edgewood is
able to spend more per student than
the LISD.
But the LISD, which is classified
as an above-average wealth district,
is able to raise $450,000 for every
one cent of its tax rate, while weal-
thier districts such as Carrollton are
able to raise $1 million for every one
cent. Downing said.
In a letter to the Supreme Court
justices, dated June 30, Downing
said the middle-class districts may
be hurting more financially than the
poorer districts.
Attorney Earl Luna, who also rep-
resents the LISD, argued for the
state that "the running of school dis-
tricts is a legislative function, not a
judicial one."
Downing agreed, but said that be-
cause the legislature has repeatedly
failed to act, he is all for the courts
stepping in.
Downing said that while House
Bill 72 was the most expensive
education bill passed by the legisla-
ture, the legislature failed to fund it
adequately.
He said districts like Edgewood
definitely need more state funding,
but he said the current level of state
funding coupled with more state
mandates is especially a problem for
fast-growing districts like the LISD.
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Day program
for children
1. North Dallas
Forest Ln & Marsh Ln
2. Richardson
Buckingham & Plano Rd
3. Denton
Colorado Blvd & Loop 288
4. Northeast Dallas
Loehmanns Plaza
Northwest Hwy & Jupiter
5. Lewisville
Lakeland Plaza S C
Hwy 121 & 1-35
6. Carrollton
Trinity Mills & Josey Ln
7. Mesquite
1340 N Town East Blvd
8. Plano East
Ave K & Park
9. East Dallas
Mockingbird & Skillman
10. Duncanville
S Cedar Ridge & Wheatland
11. Irving
253 Plymouth Park S C
12. Arlington
Cooper & Arkansas
13. Hulen
Hulen & Old Granbury
14. Hurst
1307 West Pipeline Rd
15. Ridgmar
Ridgmar Town Square
(Next to Ridgmar Mall)
16. Plano West
Preston Rd & Park
IT WISVOIE
14
WURST
ARLINGTON
-
DENTON
(3)
© i
CARRONITO
ICMARDSO*
GARLAND
Registration for The Colony Park
Baptist Church Stepping Stones
Preschool and Children's Day Out
program is now underway every
Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 3
p.m., at the church.
Children's Day Out is opened to
children, 6 weeks through 4 years of
age.
The Stepping Stones program
seeks to provide children with a
healthy, fulfilling experience in
usually their first big step out into
the world. The children in our prog-
ram enjoy a variety of activities in-
cluding field trips, library time,
chapel time and a gymnastics class.
Bird said.
"Above all it is our desire to see
these children given exposure to
God's great love of them," said Bird.
For more information, call 370-
5182 or 370-5048.
RVINC
DUNCAMVIII
Church news?
Call
370-NEWS
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Ball, Jeffrey. The Colony Leader (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 34, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 12, 1989, newspaper, July 12, 1989; The Colony, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1666601/m1/12/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Colony Public Library.