The AISD Board of Trustees on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution to officially join a lawsuit on school finance to be filed by Thompson & Horton LLP. Although there are three other lawsuits that have or will be filed to protest the Texas school finance system, the District feels that the claims made by Thompson & Horton are most closely aligned with the goals and priorities of AISD.
Many districts across the state have been discussing litigation as a means to work toward overall structural improvements to the Texas system of school finance. Thompson & Horton is representing a coalition of districts focusing on three main issues:
- Increased student enrollment and more stringent standards placed on district lead to inadequate state funding;
- Because districts don't have "meaningful discretion" over their own tax rates, this creates a de facto statewide property tax; and
- Current per-student funding is an arbitrary and inefficient system.
The current system of school finance in Texas fails to address population growth. It also fails to meet the more rigorous standards required by the State. The 82nd Texas Legislature made significant cuts to public education in the last legislative session.
The district will launch a website to keep AISD staff and the community up to date on this topic. For more information, please visit www.austinisd.org.