October 8, 2015      5:23 PM
Gov. Abbott wants school finance case kicked back to lower court
It's an argument that seems impossible former Gov. Perry would make himself - Abbott points to every major education bill passed this year as evidence the financial and academic picture for Texas schools will be significantly different going forward. Some legal experts tell QR the case could be delayed for 5 years if Abbott gets his way.
It turns out that just days before oral arguments, Gov. Greg Abbott’s office urged the Texas Supreme Court to remand the
school finance case back to the district court.
In an
amicus brief filed on August 26, Abbott’s office used every major education
bill passed in the 84th Legislature – from new literacy academies to
early education funding to revisions in interventions -- to suggest the
financial picture for Texas schools would be significantly different for Texas
school districts in 2016-17, versus the funding of 2012-13, when the school
finance lawsuit was first filed.
Abbott
argued funding per student had increased by 9 percent, to $10,672, since the
initial school finance lawsuit was filed. Overall funding had increased by 18
percent, to $94.5 billion in the 2017-18 biennium. Combined with ongoing
assessment system changes, the claims of the plaintiff school districts lacked
ripeness, he wrote.
By Kimberly Reeves
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