Edgewood Independent School District v. Kirby
Supreme Court of Texas
777 S.W.2d 391 (1989)
Texas funded public schools through a mix of state revenue and local property taxes, but because available local tax revenue depended heavily on each district's property wealth, the 100 wealthiest districts spent an average of $7,233 per student in 1985-86 while the 100 poorest districts spent only $2,978, even though the poorer districts taxed themselves at a much higher average rate (74.5 cents per $100 of property value versus 47 cents in wealthy districts). The disparities were challenged as violating the Texas Constitution's requirement of an efficient public school financing system providing a "general diffusion of knowledge," and the court of appeals upheld the existing system.
Whether a state's unequal public education financing scheme may violate the state constitutional requirement that the state create an efficient and equal system for financing public education.