by David Safier
FYI: Texas spends between $1,500 and $2,500 more per student than Arizona, depending on who's doing the counting. That being said . . .
Texas District Court Judge John Dietz ruled that Texas funding for schools is inadequate, violating the state constitution. He reached that decision after 600 districts sued the state because it cut $5.4 billion in state education funding in 2011 during a time when enrollment has increased, as has the pressure for schools to raise standardized test scores.
The case will be appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, of course. Court costs are much cheaper than reversing the $5.4 billion funding grab, let alone increasing the funding to account for student growth.
Why haven't we seen a similar suit in Arizona, I wonder.
NOTE: The article I linked to is on subscription-only Education Week. You can read a short piece in today's Star.