Filed Date: July 30, 1968
Closed Date: 1973
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On June 30, 1968, several members of the Edgewood Concerned Parent Association filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas against several school districts and the state of Texas. The plaintiffs claimed that state laws requiring schools to supplement federal and state funding with funding from property taxes unfairly discriminated against students in school districts with lower property values. Specifically, the plaintiffs claimed that although poorer school districts had higher property taxes by percentage, wealthier school districts raised up to $585 per student through property taxes, whereas their poorer counterparts raised as low as $60 per student.
On December 23, 1971, the court ruled that financing public education based on property values discriminated against students in poorer school districts in violation of the Equal Protection Cause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court enjoined the state from enforcing the state education finance laws, stayed the decision for two years to allow the state legislature to amend the laws and specifically noted that the state may not discriminate on the basis of wealth other than the wealth of the state as a whole. Rodriguez v. San Antonio Independent School District, 337 F.Supp. 280 (W.D. Tex. 1971).
On March 21, 1973, however, The Supreme Court of the United States (Justice Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr.) reversed the District Court's ruling, holding that the District Court improperly applied strict scrutiny to the Texas school financing statute because the affected class of students was not a suspect class, and the right to education was not a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution. Applying rational basis review, the Court upheld the school financing system because it had a rational relationship to the legitimate state interest of encouraging participation in and increasing local control over publicly funded schools. Rodriguez v. San Antonio Independent School District, 411 U.S. 1 (1973).
Summary Authors
Joshua Arocho (8/1/2012)
Spears, Adrian Anthony (Texas)
Spears, Adrian Anthony (Texas)
Last updated March 1, 2024, 3:08 a.m.
Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.State / Territory: Texas
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: July 30, 1968
Closing Date: 1973
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
All children throughout Texas who live in school districts with low property valuations
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: Unknown
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Granted
Defendants
San Antonio Independent School District, School District
Alamo Heights Independent School District, School District
Bexar County School Trustees (Bexar), County
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
U.S. Supreme Court merits opinion
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General:
Race:
Type of Facility: