Lead Opinion
delivered the opinion of the Court.
For the seventh time since the late-1980s, we are called upon to assess the constitutionality of the Texas school finance system, a recondite scheme for which the word “Byzantine” seems generous.
In this round, more than half of the State’s 1,000-plus school districts have brought the most far-reaching funding-challenge in Texas history. We are presented with a court reporter’s record exceeding 200,000 pages and a trial court judgment accompanied by 1,508 findings of fact and 118 conclusions of law. Dozens of briefs, many filed by new parties raising new claims, frame the intricate arguments now before us. The depth and breadth of Texans’ attention is understandable — and also commendable: Good education is good policy.
But our judicial responsibility is not to second-guess or micromanage Texas education policy or to issue edicts from on high increasing financial inputs in hopes of increasing educational outputs. There doubtless exist innovative reform measures to make Texas schools more accountable and efficient, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Judicial review, 'however, does not licence second-guessing the political branches’ policy choices, or substituting the wisdom of nine judges for that of 181 lawmakers. Our role is much more limited, as is our holding: Despite the imperfections of the current school funding regime, it meets minimum constitutional requirements.
Imperfection, however, does not mean imperfectible. Texas’s more than five million school children deserve better than
I. Factual and Procedural Background
A. Overview of the Texas Public School System
1. The Public Education System
The Legislature has enacted numerous statutes articulating its goals for Texas schools. Among those statutes, section 4.001(a) of the Education Code
The mission of the public education system of this state is to ensure that all Texas children have access to a quality education that enables them to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the future in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of our state and nation. That mission is grounded on the conviction that a general diffusion of knowledge is essential for the welfare of this state and for the preservation of the liberties and rights of citizens. It is further grounded on the conviction that a successful public education system is directly related to a strong, dedicated, and supportive family and that parental involvement in the school is essential for the maximum educational achievement of a child.
Subtitle F of the Education Code sets out provisions for curriculum, programs, and services. Section 28.001 of the subtitle
It is the intent of the legislature that the essential knowledge and skills developed by the State Board of Education under this subchapter shall require all students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to read, write, compute, problem solve, think critically, apply technology, and communicate across all subject areas. The essential knowledge and skills shall also prepare and enable all students to continue to learn in postsec-ondary educational, training, or employment settings.
In Neely v. West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District (WOC II), we noted that the Texas school system has “four integrated components: a state curriculum, a standardized test to measure how well the curriculum is being taught, accreditation standards to hold schools accountable for their performance, and sanctions and remedial measures for students, schools, and districts to ensure that accreditation standards are met.”
As part of that system, the Education Code requires school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to offer both a foundation curriculum and an enrichment curriculum. A foundation curriculum consists of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Establishing the required curriculum is a significant undertaking. The State Board of Education (SBOE)
In 2006, the Legislature required the SBOE to incorporate college readiness standards into the TEKS curriculum.
As we explained in WOC II, “[t]o correspond to curriculum changes, the Legislature required the development of a new state standardized test-the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (‘TAKS’) test — to replace the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (‘TAAS’) test.”
Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, the STAAR test was gradually introduced, beginning with Grade 9. The 2014-15 school year was the first in which all high school students took the test. High school students currently must pass five STAAR end-of-course exams in order to graduate: Algebra I, Biology, English I, English II, and United States History.
The Commissioner of Education (Commissioner)
In addition to the STAAR testing program, student performance is measured by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests. These tests are administered every two years in math and reading to students in Grades 4 and 8.
Under the system’s accountability regime, the Commissioner adopts rules for evaluating the performance of school districts, campuses, and charter schools.
Each school district must maintain accreditation status. The Commissioner determines accreditation based in part on student achievement indicators (such as testing performance, dropout rates, and graduation rates) and performance under the system’s financial accountability rating system.
2. The School Finance System
Since WOC II, the basic structure for funding the public schools has remained in place, with a few notable changes. Local, state, and federal funds are provided. Local property taxes include an M & O tax, for maintenance and operations, and a facilities tax, referred to as I & S, for “interest and sinking fund.” At the time WOC II was decided, the M & O tax rate was capped at $1.50 per $100 in property value.
The Foundation School Program (FSP), set out in chapter 42 of the Education Code, is the primary source of funding. The FSP functions to guarantee that each district has “adequate resources to provide each eligible student a basic instructional program and facilities suitable to the student’s educational needs.”
From 2009 to 2013, for districts taxing at $1.00 or above, the State provided a Tier I basic allotment of $4,765 per student.
Tier I funding also includes “special allotments” for certain students, including economically disadvantaged, bilingual, gifted and talented, and special education students, and students requiring transportation.
A school district’s Tier I funding is provided by local property taxes and state funds. The district provides funding equal to the product of its compressed tax rate and its property values for the prior year.
The system also provides for Tier II funding, which allows districts to obtain
Tier II funding consists of “golden pennies” and “copper pennies.” Golden pennies are the first six pennies above the district’s compressed rate, and are guaranteed to yield at least the same as Austin ISD’s tax revenue per weighted student per cent of tax effort, which was $59.97 in 2010 and has since been increased to $61.86 for fiscal year 2015, $74.28 for fiscal year 2016, and $77.53 for fiscal year 2017.
Recapture, the “Robin Hood” feature first analyzed in Edgewood Independent School District v. Meno (Edgewood IV),
An alternative to funding “on formula” is known as “target revenue.” Target revenue, described as a “hold harmless” system, is intended to blunt the short-term effects of tax compression. Target revenue is based on certain hold harmless rules and applies if the target revenue amount exceeds the amount the district receives under the provisions described above.
Facilities funding has remained largely unchanged since WOC II. With voter approval, districts may issue bonds for facility construction and renovation, and levy an I & S tax to meet debt-service require
In 2011, the State cut education funding. According to the State, these cuts were the result of an economic downturn combined with a loss of temporary federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Some Plaintiffs suggest the cuts were not the result of an economic downturn, pointing out that the State ran surpluses in 2010-11 and 2012-13 and that the Legislature left its Rainy Day Fund untouched. The underlying reasons for the cuts are debatable, but the amounts of the cuts are not. The Legislature cut FSP funding by $4 billion for the biennium. The Legislature also cut funding for special programs and grants by $1.3 billion. However, the 83rd Legislature restored some of this lost funding in 2013, adding $3.4 billion in FSP funding and another $2.2 billion to adjust for enrollment growth. It brought back $290 million in funding for special programs and grants. The FSP basic allotment was increased to $4,950 for the 2013-14 school year, and $5,040 for the 2014-15 year. The 84th Legislature has funded an additional estimated $1.5 billion to the FSP and added $118 million in new funding for pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs.
B. The Pending Suit
In this case, various entities and individuals sued the State for constitutional violations regarding the school system. School districts comprise the largest group of plaintiffs. The school district Plaintiffs (the ISDs or ISD Plaintiffs) include the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition (TTSFC) Plaintiffs,
Another group of plaintiffs, the Charter School Plaintiffs,
Finally, other parties intervened, alleging the system is unconstitutional under the “qualitative efficiency” requirement of article VII, section l.
The trial court conducted a bench trial beginning in October 2012 and ending in February 2013. It reopened the case and took additional evidence in January and February 2014 to consider the impact of 2013 legislation passed by the 83rd Legis
The trial court ruled in favor of the Charter School Plaintiffs in holding that funding for charter schools was based on average funding of school districts and was therefore constitutionally inadequate. But the court denied the Charter School Plaintiffs’ separate adequacy, suitability, and efficiency claims that as applied to charter schools specifically the system violated article VII, section l’s requirements. The trial court denied the Intervenors’ claim that the system violated article VII, section 1 on “qualitative efficiency” grounds.
The court signed extensive findings of fact (FOFs) and conclusions of law (COLs) running 364 pages.
The court also granted attorney fees to the ISD Plaintiffs. It denied fee requests filed by the State, Charter School Plaintiffs, and Intervenors. And it retained “continuing jurisdiction” over the case until the State has “fully and properly complied with its judgment and orders.”
A direct appeal to this Court followed.
II. Review of the Trial Court’s Decision
A. The Two Key Constitutional Provisions
The trial court held the school system unconstitutional under two provisions.
Article VII, section 1 states:
A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liber*842 ties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.
Article VIII, section 1-e states:
No State ad valorem taxes shall, be levied upon any property within this State.
B. Summary of Our Prior School Finance Decisions
Our analysis depends heavily on our pri- or school finance cases, which comprise a unique body of Texas jurisprudence. Indeed, we have recognized that adherence to our prior decisions is particularly appropriate in this area of the law.
Here is a chart illustrating the inter-branch conversation, followed below by a summary of the cases:
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We begin with Edgewood 1.
Efficiency does not require a per capita distribution, but it also does not allow concentration of resources in property-rich districts that are taxing low when property-poor districts that are taxing high cannot generate sufficient revenues to meet even minimum standards. There must be a direct and close correlation between a district’s tax effort and the educational resources available to it; in other words, districts must have substantially equal access to similar revenues per pupil at similar levels of tax effort.75
In Edgewood II,
Most property owners must bear a heavier tax burden to provide a less expensive education for students in their districts, while property owners in a few districts bear a much lighter burden to provide more funds for their students. Thus, Senate Bill 1 fails to provide “a direct and close correlation between a district’s tax effort and the educational resources available to it.” To be efficient, a funding system that is so dependent on local ad valorem property taxes must draw revenue from all property at a substantially similar rate.77
On rehearing, the Court clarified that school districts in an efficient system are permitted to “generate and spend local taxes to enrich or supplement an efficient system.”
In Edgewood III,
An ad valorem tax is a state tax when it is imposed directly by the State or when the State so completely controls the levy, assessment and disbursement of revenue, either directly or indirectly, that the authority employed is without meaningful discretion.83
In Edgewood IV, the Court also rejected the wealthy districts’ argument that SB 7 unconstitutionally imposed a statewide ad valorem tax. The Court held that although the statute set maximum and minimum tax rates, and provided financial incentives for -districts to tax at maximum rates, enough discretion remained in the system to distinguish it from a statewide property tax. But the Court warned:
Eventually, some districts may be forced to tax at a maximum allowable rate just to provide a general diffusion of knowledge: If a cap on tax rates were to become in effect a floor as well as a ceiling, the conclusion that the Legislature had set a statewide ad valorem tax would appear to be unavoidable because the districts would then have lost all meaningful discretion in setting the rate.88
In WOC 1,
Finally, in the most recent school finance case, WOC 17,
In sum, the Court has twice held, in Edgewood I and Edgewood II, that the school finance system was unconstitutional under article VII, section 1 because it was financially inefficient. It has twice held, in Edgewood III and WOC II, that the system was unconstitutional under article VIII, section 1-e because it imposed a statewide ad valorem tax. The Court has never held the system constitutionally inadequate, unsuitable, or “qualitatively” inefficient under article VII, section 1.
C. Standards of Review
Philosophical views and emotions run deep on the subject of school funding in this State, as indicated by the large number of parties and amici curiae' and the content of their briefing. We embrace this input because all Texans, judges included, desire an efficient school system that cultivates and maximizes student achievement.
In this direct appeal, we have no jurisdiction “over any question of fact,”
In. WOC II, we recognized an arbitrariness standard for challenges under article VII, section l.
D. Justiciability, Standing, and Ripeness
The State argues we should not reach the merits of the Plaintiffs’ claims but should instead dismiss the case for various jurisdictional reasons. We reject these arguments.
The State primarily invokes the political-question doctrine, arguing the claims under article VII, section 1 involve policy-making reserved to the Legislature and are nonjusticiable political questions. The State says there are no judicially manageable methods for assessing the constitutionality of the state educational system, and there is no practicable basis for assessing the “reasonableness” of such a complex system.
We rejected this argument in Edgewood I, and do so again today. We explained that the Constitution imposes standards that are not committed unconditionally to the Legislature, but are instead subject to judicial review.
The Legislature’s discretion, in other words, is “not without bounds.”
On another front, the State argues that the Plaintiffs do not have standing to make claims under article VII, section 1 because the courts cannot provide the relief sought, namely legislative changes including changes in funding. The Court rejected a similar standing challenge in WOC II, holding that “being required to implement unconstitutional statutes” is sufficient to give the ISDs standing to assert constitutional violations.
To be sure, the State focuses more precisely than before on the “re-dressability” component of standing, but we remain persuaded that the Plaintiffs have standing. Generally, standing under Texas law “requires a concrete injury to the -plaintiff and a real controversy between the parties that will be resolved by the court.”
Finally, the State argues that the Plaintiffs’ claims, including the state property tax claims under Article VIII, section 1-e, are not ripe because school financing has changed over time. In particular, the State argues the evidence introduced in the first phase of the trial relating to the funding cut was superseded by the 83rd Legislature’s decision to restore most of the funding in 2013. We have not previously addressed a ripeness argument of the sort the State now presents, but we reject it as well. Generally, the ripeness doctrine concerns whether there is sufficient development of the facts and issues to ensure that the court’s judgment is not based on contingent or uncertain events.
The State’s advocacy for a strict application of the ripeness doctrine would mean school finance cases could never be entertained, because the facts relating to funding, test scores, tax rates, property values, etc., are always changing to some extent. This is not to say that changed circumstances are not problematic for the Plaintiffs, for reasons discussed below. But the inevitable changes in relevant factual circumstances do not place school finance cases completely beyond the decision-making reach of the courts; again, holding otherwise would effectively overrule our longstanding recognition that the courts
E. Adequacy
Article VII, section 1 imposes a duty on the Legislature to achieve a “general diffusion of knowledge.” This requirement has come to be known as the “adequacy” requirement. The school system is constitutionally adequate if it achieves a general diffusion of knowledge.
In our last three school finance cases, we have made clear that we presume the Legislature achieves a general diffusion of knowledge by devising a curriculum and an accountability regime to meet legislatively designed accreditation standards for schools and districts.
Perhaps in contrast to earlier lawsuits, the issue of adequacy looms especially large in today’s case. CCISD accurately describes the issue as “now at the heart of this case.” We conclude that the district court’s analysis of this issue was flawed, and its ultimate determination of constitutional inadequacy wrong. This error, unfortunately, bleeds over into other issues and infects much of the trial court’s analysis of them, as detailed below.
1. The Trial Court’s Reliance on Spending Levels
The trial court determined the school system was constitutionally inadequate because it agreed with three of the Plaintiffs’ experts that the system was underfunded. The court endorsed Allan Od-den’s opinion as providing a reasonable estimate of the cost of an adequate education. Odden used an “evidence-based model” to calculate the cost of an adequate educational system. He calculated the cost by considering “best practices” such as a core class size of 15 for kindergarten through third grade and 25 for other
The court found additional support for Odden’s and Moak’s opinions in the testimony of Bruce Baker, who took the $3,500 figure per weighted student that was supposedly required to achieve a general dif- ' fusion of knowledge in Edgewood IV, and adjusted that figure for inflation. This yielded a figure of $6,576. The court concluded that only a small percentage of districts could raise this amount even taxing at the maximum rate of $1.17.
Relying on these experts, the trial court measured the level of inadequate funding on a per student basis. It found that the total spending needed for 2010-11, measured in FSP M & O dollars per student in WADA, was $6,176 per Odden’s estimates, $6,562 per Moak’s estimate, and $6,576 per Baker’s estimate, all well in excess of the actual funds available, estimated at $5,662.
We do not agree with the trial court’s analysis for several reasons. First, we stated in WOC II that an adequacy determination should not depend on “inputs” such as funding per student; instead, the determination “is plainly result-oriented,” looking to “the results of the educational process measured in student achievement.”
Second, the trial court’s “fact” findings as to the specific amount of funding needed to achieve a general diffusion of knowledge are, we think, beyond the current state of science in this field. We have warned that in school finance cases where we must decide constitutional questions, the trial court’s findings play a “limited role.”
We are not alone in expressing uncertainty as to the correlation between more money and better education. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court rejected a federal constitutional challenge to the Texas school finance system in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez.
On even the most basic questions in this area the scholars and educational experts are divided. Indeed, one of the major sources of controversy concerns the extent to which there is a demonstrable correlation between educational expenditures and the quality of education- — -an assumed correlation underlying virtually every legal conclusion drawn by the District Court in this case.145
The Court cited numerous conflicting studies, including the Coleman Report,
The first finding is that the schools are remarkably similar in the way they relate to the achievement of their pupils when the socioeconomic background of the students is .taken into account. It is known that socioeconomic factors bear a strong relation to academic achievement. When these factors are statistically controlled, however, it appears that differences between schools account for only a small fraction of differences in pupil achievement.149
According to one retrospective on the Report, “Coleman’s findings indisputably documented that variation between schools in their resource levels mattered little for variation among individual students, a result that remains the seminal finding in U.S. sociology of education.... Forty years on, the findings of the Coleman re•port hold up remarkably well, in some ways distressingly so.”
We express no opinion on the 50-year-old Coleman Report, nor, frankly, are we qualified to do so. But the controversy hardly ended with' the Coleman Report. Hundreds of similar studies, reaching conflicting conclusions, have followed.
Courts should not sit as a super-legislature. Nor should they assume the role of super-laboratory. They are not equipped to resolve intractable disagreements on fundamental questions in the social sciences. Arthur Miller may have referred to a trial as the crucible, but we doubt he saw it as the best place for reducing scientific truth when the scientific community itself has reached an impasse.
Another problem with placing a dollar figure on adequacy is the trial court’s reliance on footnote 10 of Edgewood TV.
The problem with this analysis is that we never held in Edgewood TV that $3,500 per student was required to achieve a general diffusion of knowledge. We most assuredly did not decree that the Legislature must at a minimum fund at this level, forever and a day, with adjustment under the latest and best index for measuring inflation in the cost of education. Our reference to this figure did not even occur in a discussion of the adequacy requirement. Rather, we mentioned the figure in our discussion of financial efficiency, a separate requirement that focuses on equality of funding and not on the absolute level of funding. We assumed the trial court was correct that the $3,500 level was the minimum required for a basic education, and then held that financial efficiency standards were met, explaining that the equal access to funding required for financial efficiency only applies to “the funding necessary for a general diffusion of knowledge” and did not apply to supplemental funding for enrichment. A $600 advantage in funding per student available to the richest districts taxing at a $1.50 rate was not dispositive, because taxing at lower rates would bring in the $3,500 per stu
It is important to see that, in Edgewood IV, we found the $3,500 figure relevant to support the Legislature’s discretionary choices in providing the system’s financial efficiency. We accepted that figure as the level of funding necessary to provide a general diffusion of knowledge, to identify the ceiling up to which the Constitution required substantially equal access to “efficient” funding. In today’s case, the trial court used the figure as a floor to create a constitutional minimal funding amount, and establish a violation of the adequacy requirement. We think that use is very different from the use we made of it in Edgewood IV, and is misplaced.
We do not question that a school system must spend money to accomplish a general diffusion of knowledge. Common sense says as much, as have we.
Yet another problem with Odden’s testimony is that he based his dollar figures wholly on what he determined to be “best practices,” without regard for or deference to the Legislature’s chosen practices. As
By focusing so heavily on the input of spending, attempting to decide a fundamental question that remains unresolved in the social sciences, relying on a misinterpretation of this Court’s jurisprudence, and relying on what the court deemed “best practices,” the trial court erred in assigning a minimum dollar figure as constitutionally necessary to achieve a general diffusion of knowledge. This error infected the entire adequacy analysis, influencing the trial court over and over, and rendering its ultimate conclusion that the school system is constitutionally inadequate hopelessly flawed.
2. The Trial Court’s Focus on Other Inputs and “Best Practices”
The trial court made many findings and conclusions that can only be characterized as findings of inadequate inputs, relating to class size, tutoring, interventions for special needs students, nurses, security guards, etc.
We have never held that constitutional adequacy requires the State to employ what are, in the view of one expert or another, the “best practices” recognized by a segment of the expert community. Funding questions aside, the trial court strayed by repeatedly looking to “best practices” regarding pre-k programs, school size, dual language classes, class size, providing for the needs of ELL and economically disadvantaged students, and so on, and holding that a failure to implement such practices “could be considered arbitrary and unconstitutional.”
3. The State’s Failure to Calculate Education Costs
Continuing their input-based approach, the Plaintiffs argue that the educational system is inadequate because the State has failed to make its own calculations of the funds needed to meet its performance standards or to obtain a general diffusion of knowledge. They rely on section 42.007 of the Education .Code, which provides in part:
(a) The Legislative Budget Board shall adopt rules, subject to appropriate notice and opportunity for public comment, for the calculation for each year of a biennium of the qualified funding elements, in accordance with Subsection (c), necessary to achieve the state policy under Section 42.001.
(b) Before each regular session of the legislature, the board shall, as determined by the board, report the equalized funding elements to the commissioner and the legislature.
Subsection (c) then sets out various funding elements. Section 42.001 describes general state educational policies such as the policy that “each student enrolled in the public school system shall have access to programs and services that are appropriate to the student’s educational needs.”
The Plaintiffs say that section 42.007 requires the State to make its own adequacy calculations. Fort Bend ISD, for example, argues that section 42.007 “is the way
The State does not deny that the Legislative Budget Board has failed for years to comply with section 42.007. But even assuming that section 42.007 is a statutory mandate for the Legislature to calculate the level of funding needed to provide for a general diffusion of knowledge, this failure does not establish a constitutional violation of the adequacy requirement.
As explained above, the spending level is an input that generally is not decisive in determining whether the State is providing a general diffusion of knowledge. Again, we have made clear that the approach should be output driven. Given the highly controversial issue of whether more spending will necessarily raise student achievement, a debate that has raged for decades in the social sciences, we cannot say that the State has acted in an unconstitutionally arbitrary manner simply because it has not attempted to assign precise dollar values as to the costs of providing a general diffusion of knowledge. One could argue with equal persuasiveness that attempting to assign such dollar values is itself arbitrary, given the uncertainty that prevails in this realm of educational research.
To be sure, the better practice might be for the Legislature to regularly calculate the cost of a general diffusion of knowledge, or components thereof, particularly in light of. section 42.007. But complaining that the State has not come up with its own dollar figures for meeting legal mandates for public education does not render the system constitutionally inadequate, because the Plaintiffs bear the burden of proving the system does not achieve a general diffusion of knowledge.
Further, the State offered evidence that, through the Academic Excellence Indicator System, the State generates exhaustive, publicly available reports at the campus, district, region, and state levels on students, staff, programs, and expenditures.
4. Statutory Weights and Adequacy Claims Relating to Subgroups
The trial court separately held that, due to inadequate funding, the school finance system was constitutionally inadequate and unsuitable as to ELL and economical
The performance of student sub-populations, especially a large group such as economically disadvantaged students who comprise more than 60% of students, .is relevant to whether the system as a whole is constitutionally adequate. But this Court has never squarely held that a separate, cognizable adequacy claim can be asserted by a student subpopulation such as economically disadvantaged or ELL students. In reviewing an adequacy claim in WOC II, the Court noted “wide gaps in performance among student groups differentiated by race, proficiency in English, and economic advantage.”
Second, for practical reasons we are reluctant to start down the path of entertaining claims of subpopulations. Here we have claims on behalf of ELL and economically disadvantaged students. Similar claims could be made for countless other groups—students in certain grades or of certain ages, students of certain races, boys versus girls, students with certain mental or physical disabilities, etc. The only practical limitation on such claims, beyond creativity, might be the availability of data, but if the record in this case is any indication, a staggering amount of data exists on the educational system and its students. If the Court starts down that path, then truly perhaps “there is no end in sight.”
The Plaintiffs relied heavily at trial on achievement gaps themselves as the reason funding should be increased for these groups. For example, Moak testified that the funding multipliers for economically disadvantaged and ELL students should be doubled because of a persistent education gap. The trial court, too, concluded that the school system’s failure to close achievement gaps of economically disadvantaged and ELL students established a constitutionally inadequate system as to these groups.
In the same vein, the Plaintiffs complain that weights assigned for funding economically disadvantaged and ELL students are inadequate. They complain of the .2 statutory multiplier for economically disadvantaged students
Moreover, multipliers may seem inadequate if considered in isolation, but they sometimes have a cumulative effect. For example, a poor immigrant student’s status may boost district funding through three separate adjustments — the multipliers for economically disadvantaged and ELL students, and the CEI adjustment that separately considers the number of low-income
In arguing for adjustments that give proportionately more to certain subgroups, the Plaintiffs offered evidence, including expert testimony, that their favored subgroups benefitted from certain programs and that the State’s multipliers are too low. For example, they offered evidence that economically disadvantaged students benefitted from access to pre.-k programs and smaller class sizes.
This argument can be viewed two ways. One understanding is that the Plaintiffs are in effect arguing that, for any level of total funding, certain groups deserve a larger piece of the pie. The Plaintiffs are hard put to justify this result as necessary to improve “the system as a whole” unless they can show that the achievement gains to the allegedly underfunded subgroup will more than offset the losses that other students will sustain if they receive less funding. That conclusion does not necessarily follow from evidence that certain disadvantaged groups are more expensive to educate or benefit from certain targeted interventions such as . pre-k programs or smaller classes, evidence that was the subject of numerous trial court findings. For a given sum of money, the achievement gains, as measured by objective outputs such as test scores, for the subgroup favored by a plaintiff may be larger, smaller, or the same as the gains achieved by spending that same sum in targeted funding on other groups. Plaintiffs’ expert Dr. Baker, for example, conceded that “[h]av-ing access to more resources always gives the opportunity to do more with it, whether you’re talking about in a high poverty community or, a high wealth community.” One might expect any student could benefit from one improvement or another made available with additional spending, given the trial court’s 1,508 fact findings that virtually everything about the current system is broken.
An alternative understanding of the Plaintiffs’ argument is that favored and disfavored subgroups both deserve more funding. But this argument merely recasts the argument for more dollars, the weaknesses of which are discussed above. The trial court concluded that adjustments for certain subgroups were insufficient, but it also held that funding for the system as a whole was insufficient. For example, the court relied on Moak’s estimate that an updated cost of education index (under section 42.102 of the Education Code) “should provide approximately $1 billion more to school districts.”
Stated another way, the Plaintiffs would have a better argument if they had shown that their selected subgroups — ELL and economically disadvantaged students here — see greater improvements in test scores or some other quantifiable measure of achievement for each dollar of additional spending than other groups see, and that these subgroups therefore deserve a disproportionate share of existing or addition
The trial court nevertheless concluded that the school finance system as a whole, and as to economically disadvantaged and ELL students in particular, was unconstitutionally unsuitable due to inadequate funding weights assigned to those two subgroups, and more generally because of the system’s reliance on “outdated, arbitrary weights and allotments that do not reflect the actual cost, of education to determine funding levels- for districts.”
The trial court concluded that economically disadvantaged and ELL students particularly benefitted from some strategies such as smaller classes in lower grades,
If the Plaintiffs are arguing that economically disadvantaged and ELL students are entitled to a greater share of funding because performance gaps by themselves demonstrate a constitutional violation, we reject this argument. The financial efficiency doctrine requires a rough equality of access to district funding for similar tax effort. Its aim is equality of opportunity, not equality of results. We have never interpreted our Constitution, under the adequacy requirement, to mandate equality of student achievement by district or student subgroup. Such equality of results may not be possible through changes in school funding alone, given the
For all of these reasons, we hold the Plaintiffs failed to prove that the system was so parsimonious in its allocation of resources to ELL and economically disadvantaged students as to amount to an unconstitutionally inadequate allocation. We also hold the Plaintiffs failed to prove that current funding weights are so flawed as to render the school system as a whole constitutionally inadequate.
5. Test Scores and Other Outputs
Because the adequacy standard “is plainly result-oriented,”
We have already discussed why we disagree with the trial court’s analysis of funding. That problem aside, we examine whether the record shows that test scores and other outputs — the proper focus of the adequacy determination — demonstrate a constitutionally inadequate system. They do not.
At the outset, we must consider whether the system, as the Legislature has designed it, is adequate to meet the constitutional requirement to provide a general diffusion of knowledge. As explained above, the Legislature need only act “reasonably” in making these policy decisions. “[N]o one would dispute that a public education system limited to teaching first-grade reading would be inadequate.”
We have explained in some detail the system the Legislature has chosen, and we have no difficulty concluding that it does not represent an arbitrary and unreasonable effort to provide a general diffusion of knowledge. District and campus performance is reviewed based on student achievement measures including test scores, dropout rates, and graduation rates.
In Edgewood TV, we held that this accountability regime, by itself, satisfied “the Legislature’s constitutional obligation to
We next consider whether the system is sufficiently operating as designed. In today’s case, the State showed that in 2013, 92.8% of school districts and charter schools and 84.2% of individual school campuses achieved the “Met Standard” rating. In 2014, 90.2% of school districts and char-, ter schools and 85.0% of individual school campuses achieved this rating.
The trial court rejected the presumption of adequacy that follows compliance with the accountability regime. It reasoned that “the accountability standards are set not to measure whether districts are achieving a general diffusion of knowledge, but rather to ensure that most districts and campuses fall on the ‘academically acceptable’ or ‘met standards’ side of the line.”
The trial court in today’s case also criticized what it saw as the State’s “history of
The trial court also considered performance on the STAAR tests. It found that the initial student performance was “sobering.”
In condemning the system as constitutionally inadequate, the triál court considered the early administrations of the test. Students, teachers, and schools were undoubtedly challenged by new, harder tests they had not seen. The same was true in WOC II, where we noted, in discussing district performance ratings: “After the change to the harder test, ratings predictably slid.”
More recent STAAR results show improvements by some measures. The trial court noted that the cumulative failure rate on all tests had improved slightly from 2012 to 2013.
The Class of 2015 was the first to graduate under the STAAR requirements. After Spring 2015 testing, 92% of students had passed all five end-of-course (EOC) exams required for graduation,
The NAEP tests, considered by the Court in WOC II,
Graduation rates are another output the State uses in performance and accreditation reviews.
On this issue and others, the parties single out, parse, emphasize, and minimize many other statistics in arguing their respective positions. We have noted a few of the differences in statistical measures found in the record, such as those relating to measuring graduation rates and revenue per student.
*868 In the extensive record before us, there is much evidence, which the district court credited, that many schools and districts are struggling to teach an increasingly demanding curriculum to a population with a growing number of disadvantaged students, yet without ad- • ditional funding needed to meet these challenges. There are wide gaps in performance among student groups differentiated by^ race, proficiency in English, and economic advantage. Non-completion and dropout rates are high, and the loss of students who are struggling may make performance measures applied to those who continue appear better than they should. The rate of students meeting college preparedness standards is very low. There is also evidence of high attrition and turnover among teachers statewide, due to increasing demands and stagnant compensation.
Despite those difficulties, we also noted improvements in some test scores and held that the system was constitutionally adequate.
6. Conclusion Regarding Adequacy
Our decision on the adequacy requirement is largely driven by our standard of review, the legal lens through which we examine this issue. In WOC II, we said that “it remains to be seen whether the system’s predicted drift toward constitutional inadequacy will be avoided by legislative reaction to widespread calls for changes.”
F. Suitability
The trial court held the current school system is constitutionally unsuitable. We have recognized a suitability requirement deriving from the text of article VII, section 1, imposing a legislative duty “to establish and make suitable provision for” an efficient public school system.
The State essentially argues the system is suitable because it is efficiently providing a general diffusion of knowledge under the adequacy and financial efficiency requirements. The Plaintiffs argue that adequacy, efficiency, and suitability are separate elements. We have made clear that the suitability requirement “is not merely redundant of’ the adequacy and efficiency requirements.
But the elements are certainly related, as it would be the odd case where the
Our prior decisions offer some insights on suitability. We have stated generally that “if the Legislature substantially defaulted on its responsibility such that Texas school children were denied access to that education needed to participate fully in the social, economic, and educational opportunities available in Texas, the ‘suitable provision’ clause would be violated.”
There is a somewhat' fine distinction in our caselaw on suitability. On the one hand, we have said this requirement “refers specifically to the means chosen to achieve an adequate education.”
This Court has never held the school system constitutionally unsuitable. Such a defect appears to be reserved for some fundamental and insurmountable structural flaw, especially where the system is succeeding in efficiently providing an adequate education for Texas students.
The trial court held the school system was unsuitable because it was underfunded,
G. Financial Efficiency
The trial court held the current school finance system violated the “financial efficiency” requirement of article VII, section 1. On this issue, the ISD Plaintiffs part company. CCISD sides with the State in arguing that the system is financially efficient.
Our basic framework for deciding this issue has not changed since Edgewood I, where we held that “districts must have substantially equal access to similar revenues per pupil at similar levels of tax effort.”
The State’s duty to provide equal access to funding applies only to the amounts necessary to provide for a general diffusion of knowledge.
Since the Edgewood II decision in 1991, we have not found a violation of the financial efficiency requirement. Since then, the system has used recapture among other mechanisms to equalize funding.
In analyzing this issue, our prior decisions considered various metrics. In making comparisons to prior decisions, we particularly focus today on ratios, because
In Edgewood I, we found a financial efficiency violation, noting that property wealth per student varied from $14 million in the richest district to $20,000 in the poorest, a ratio of 700; the 300,000 students in the wealthiest districts had over 25% of the State’s property wealth, while the 300,000 in the poorest districts had 3% of the property wealth, a ratio of about 8; the average property wealth in the 100 wealthiest districts was more than 20 times the average property wealth in the 100 poorest districts. Spending per student ranged from $19,333 to $2,112, a ratio of about 9; an average of $2,000 more per year was spent on each of the 150,000 students in the wealthiest districts than was spent on the 150,000 students in the poorest districts. Local tax rates varied from $1.55 to 9 cents, a ratio of about 17. The 100 poorest districts had an average tax rate of 74.5 cents, while the 100 richest had an average tax rate of 47 cents, a ratio of about 1.6. The 100 richest districts spent an average of $7,233 per student, while the 100 poorest spent $2,978, a ratio of about 2.4.
By contrast, in Edgewood IV, we held the financial efficiency requirement was satisfied.
Similarly, in WOC II, we concluded that no violation of the financial efficiency requirement was presented.
In FOFs 1265 and 1267, the trial court found, based on data from Edgewood ISD expert Dr. Albert Cortez, that in 2011-12, measured by property wealth, the wealthiest decile of districts had average M & 0 revenue per student in WADA of $7,097, while the poorest decile had average M & 0 revenue per student in WADA of $5,654, a ratio of about 1.26. In 2012-13, the comparable figures were $6,715 and $5,617, for a ratio of about 1.19. In 2013-14, according to a different expert, Dr. Catherine Clark, comparable figures were $6,708 and $5,801, for a ratio of 1.16.
A State expert, Dr. Lisa Dawn-Fisher, offered data that for 2013-14, the wealthiest 5% of districts had a weighted average of $7,673 in M & O dollars per student in WADA while the poorest 5% had $5,797, for a ratio of 1.32. TTSFC refers us to calculations from its expert Dr. Wayne Pierce, showing a slightly different ratio.
All of these ratios are below or near the ratio of 1.4 for funding of the wealthiest versus the poorest 5% of districts noted in WOC II. The WOC II ratio existed in a system found constitutionally efficient. All of the ratios in today’s case are well below the spending ratios in Edgeivood I, where we held the system unconstitutional, such as the 2.4 ratio between the richest and poorest 100 districts, or the ratio of 9 between the highest and lowest-spending district.
Data from Dawn-Fisher shows that for 2011-12, total FSP revenue per student in WADA was $7,318 for chapter 41 districts and $6,350 for chapter 42 districts, for a ratio of 1.15. The comparable ratio was 1.11 for 2012-13, 1.08 for 2013-14, and 1.07 for 2014-15. These ratios are below the ratio of 1.26 for chapter 41 versus chapter 42 districts in WOC II, and the ratio of 1.17 at the time of Edgeivood IV. And again, this data shows a trend toward greater equality of funding. Plaintiffs’ expert Pierce also testified that the revenue gaps between wealthy and poor districts were decreased by the actions of the 83rd Legislature. And as the trial court found, the Legislative Budget Board has projected a decrease in revenue gaps as well, though the court thought the reductions were insignificant.
WOC //noted that “although 95% of public school funds are equalized through the FSP, 5% are not.”
Looking again to FOFs 1265 and 1267, the trial court found that the average M & Ó tax rate for the poorest decile-was $1.11 in 2011-12 while the average rate for the wealthiest districts was $1.00, for a ratio of 1.11. The average tax rate for the poorest decile was $1.11 in 2012-13 while the average rate for the wealthiest districts was $1.01, for a ratio of about 1.1. Dawn-Fisher offered data that in 2012-13 the weighted average M <& O tax rates for the bottom and top 15% of districts were $1.10 and $1.04, for a ratio of 1.06. Pierce’s numbers came in at $1.097 and $1.026, for a ratio of 1.07. Pierce also offered combined M & O and I & S tax rates, finding a rate of $1.256 for the poorest 15% and $1.181 for the richest, for a ratio of 1.06. In Edgewood IV, a ratio of 1.07 applied to the tax rates of the richest and poorest 15% of districts, and we upheld that system. The numbers in today’s case are certainly in the same range for constitutional purposes. All of these ratios are well below the ratio of 1.6 between the richest and poorest districts in Edgewood I, where we found a constitutional violation.
The trial court found that property values per student in WADA ranged from $22,218 in Boles ISD to $7,341,341 in Ken-
In considering ratios, we can finally look to measures of “yield,” that is, measures of how much revenue a district can raise for each penny of tax effort. Such a measure numerically corresponds to our standard for financial efficiency in Edgewood I, requiring that “districts must have substantially equal access to similar revenues per pupil at similar levels of tax effort.”
The parties offered yield evidence in today’s case, including calculations by Dawn-Fisher, a State expert, and Pierce, an expert for the Financial Efficiency Plaintiffs. Depending on the methods used and the precise figures being measured,
Using 2013 data and 2014 legislative parameters, and considering actual tax rates, Dawn-Fisher’s assessed the richest and poorest 10% of districts, with each group consisting of 102 districts, inviting a comparison to Edgewood I ⅛ richest and poorest 100 districts. She calculated weighted average M & O yields of 66.30 for the richest 10% and 52.41 for the poorest, for a ratio of 1.265. Looking to the richest and poorest 15% of districts yielded a ratio of 1.17. These ratios fall within the ratios of 1.36 and 1.07 described in Edgewood TV, which considered the richest and poorest 15% of districts, and are far below the ratio of 3.85 in Edgewood I, which considered the richest and poorest 100 districts. Similar though not identical ratios can be derived from Pierce’s calculations, which also considered 2013 actual tax rates and
The trial court made hundreds of fact findings on this issue, but many were inextricably and in our view erroneously tied to its findings that the State had to spend at a higher level — the adequacy estimates of experts Odden, Moak, and Baker — to achieve adequacy.
The trial court also made findings that property-poor districts levy higher I & S taxes but raise less revenue for facilities.
The State defendants argue that disparities among districts in available facilities are not proof of inefficiency absent evidence that the districts’ needs are similar. They contend that facilities needs vary widely depending on the size and location of schools, construction expenses, and other variables. We agree that such evidence is necessary and lacking. The State defendants also argue that to prove constitutional inefficiency the intervenors must offer evidence oí-an inability to provide for a general diffusion of knowledge without additional facilities, and that they have failed to do so. Again, we agree. .Efficiency requires only substantially equal access to revenue for facilities necessary for an adequate system271
We think the proof in today’s case was similarly lacking with regard to 'the Financial Efficiency Plaintiffs’ arguments, that unequal I & S funding renders the system financially inefficient. Further, as discussed above, Dr. Dawn-Fisher calculated total FSP funding gapsr between chapter 41 and chapter 42 districts. Those comparisons included M & O and I & S spending. Her data showed ratios below those found in WOC II, as well as a trend toward more equal funding.
We recognize that the comparisons to past ratios are not matters of mathematical perfection, and that even in the same case the ratios can vary considerably from expert to expert. But using our precedents as a guide, the ratios we describe in
H. Intervenors’ Qualitative Efficiency Claims
The Intervenors argue the school system is qualitatively inefficient because it does not provide for a general diffusion of knowledge with little waste. They contend the system is structurally unsound, wasteful, and unproductive of results. They complain of constant unproductive litigation. Alleged structural inefficiencies include establishing school districts as near monopolies, a cap on the number of charter schools, and a failure of the system to determine the cost of educating a child. The Intervenors further complain that the system is too top-down and mandate-driven, teacher tenure and compensation rules are inefficient, and class-size limits add to inefficiency. Conflicting evidence was presented as to whether these rules contribute to student achievement. The Interve-nors ask the Court to “declare the system unconstitutional because its structural inefficiencies impair .its ability to produce educational results with little waste.”
The trial court did not err in rejecting the Intervenors’ claims. Article VII, section 1, of course, expressly imposes on the Legislature a duty to provide “an efficient system of public free schools.” In Edge-wood I, the Court recognized, in addition to the equal funding requirements of financial efficiency, a more general qualitative efficiency requirement in article VII, section 1, referring to a system “effective or productive of results and connot[ing] the use of resources so as to produce results with little waste.”
If “qualitative efficiency” and adequacy can mean different things, there is surely a great deal of overlap. We have expressly recognized “[t]he interrelated constitutional standards of efficiency and adequacy.”
The Court has never found a constitutional violation due to qualitative inefficiency. We think a plaintiff faces a steep challenge in establishing that a system, once found to be constitutionally adequate, is nevertheless constitutionally deficient under a separate qualitative efficiency requirement. The Court moreover has made clear that it focuses on results and does not micromanage the programs and methods used to achieve those results: “the Legislature has the sole right to decide how to meet the standards set by the people in article VII, section l.”
The Intervenors make intriguing suggestions for improving the efficiency of the school system. We hope the Legislature will consider these and similar suggestions. But the Intervenors did not cross the threshold of proving that such changes are constitutionally mandated. The Interve-nors’ claims are reminiscent of claims in Edgewood TV, where some plaintiffs alleged the school finance system was unsuitable and inefficient in denying student-centered funding that empowers parents to direct some of their tax dollars to schools of their choice. The Court rejected these arguments because the , Court leaves to the Legislature “the primary responsibility to decide how best to achieve an efficient system.”
The Intervenors argue that a structural failing of the system is its “monopolized statutory scheme” and that school districts are “near monopolies.” They specifically complain about a cap on the number of charter schools and the absence of competition. This harkens to the lone dissent in WOC II, stating that efficiency is produced “not by protectionism, not by higher taxes, and not by state control, but by freedom for competition.”
The Intervenors specifically complain that the cap on the number of open-enrollment charter schools stifles competition.
Making an argument similar to one made by the ISDs, the Intervenors contend the system is unconstitutional because the State has failed to determine the cost of educating a child. Such determinations might be the better practice, but again this argument misplaces the burden of proof. Constitutionality is presumed; it is the Intervenors’ burden to show funding is constitutionally inadequate. And as not-, ed above, calculating such costs may be a largely ineffectual exercise given that the social sciences may not have advanced to the point of allowing for such calculations in a meaningful way. For these and the
We accordingly affirm the trial court’s rejection of the Intervenors’ claims, except we remand their claim for attorney fees along with all other claims for such fees, as discussed below.
I. Charter School Plaintiffs’ Claims
The Charter School Plaintiffs complain that charter schools receive at least $1,000 less per weighted student than other schools largely because they receive no funding for facilities. They also complain that they are not subject to certain adjustments in the FSP formula available to other schools, and therefore do not receive extra funding they deserve.
The Education Code recognizes three classes of charter schools: home-rule school district charter schools, campus or campus program charter schools, and open-enrollment charter schools.
The trial court held that because the ISD Plaintiffs established that the level of school funding was constitutionally inadequate and because charter school funding is based on state averages of ISD funding, the Charter School Plaintiffs prevailed on their claim that funding for open-enrollment charter schools was constitutionally inadequate.
The Charter Schools Plaintiffs further complain that the differential in funding between charter schools and school districts renders the school finance system unconstitutionally inadequate, unsuitable, and inefficient. Charter schools receive FSP funding but (1) they do not receive facilities funding from the State like other schools, and (2) they are subject to average funding formulae rather than receiving adjustments for factors that increase costs.
Charter schools sometimes receive less than other schools because of the way facilities are funded. School districts can impose local taxes to pay for facilities bonds under section '45.001(a) of the Education Code. Charter schools, lacking taxing authority, cannot utilize this provision. The State also provides direct facilities funding to districts to cover faeilities-relat-ed debt, but charter schools are not 61⅛-⅜ ble for these funds.
Funding inequalities are addressed in our caselaw under the financial
Conceivably a difference in the way similarly situated charter schools and other schools are funded might render the system constitutionally inefficient, inadequate, or unsuitable. The standard is whether this difference in treatment is arbitrary.
The trial court found substantial differences between the way charter schools and other schools are operated that might affect funding needs.
As for funding adjustments, the State uses statewide averages, rather than making individual determinations for each charter school, for certain statutory adjustments — those relating to the cost of education, district size, district population sparsity, and enrichment funding.
We accordingly reject all the claims of the Charter School Plaintiffs, except that we remand their claim for attorney fees along with all other claims for such fees, as discussed below.
J. Statewide Ad Valorem Tax Claim
The trial court.held the current system imposed a statewide ad valorem tax in violation of article VIII, section 1-e. We disagree.
Article VIII, section 1-e provides: “No State ad valorem taxes shall be levied upon any property within this State.” We explained in Edgewood III: “An ad valorem tax is a state tax when it is imposed directly by the State or when the State so completely controls the levy, assessment and disbursement of revenue, either directly or indirectly, that the authority employed is without meaningful discretion.”
Analysis of this issue does not submit to simple rules or formulae. “Each case must turn on its own particulars.”
In WOC II, we held the Legislature had imposed a statewide ad valorem tax. The maximum M & 0 rate at the time was $1.50. We relied on evidence that 48% of districts with 59% of students were taxing at the cap.
In today’s case, the comparable numbers are different. The maximum M & 0 rate is $1.1.7. About 24% of districts with only about 13% of students tax at the cap. About 69% of districts educating about 76% of students tax at or below $1.04, 13 cents below the cap. These figures by themselves do not suggest that districts as a whole have lost meaningful discretion.
In deciding this issue, the trial court held that the ISDs as a whole had “lost meaningful discretion to set their M & 0 rates” and “the ISD Plaintiffs collectively have also, established a systemic violation” of article VIII, section 1-e.
We do not agree with this reasoning. Article VII, section 3(e) of the Constitution states in part: “[T]he Legislature may authorize an additional ad valorem tax to be levied and collected within all school districts for the further maintenance of public free schools, and for the erection and equipment of school buildings therein; provided that a majority of the qualified voters of the district voting at an election to be held for that purpose, shall approve the tax.” The Legislature’s decision to require a THE is consistent with article VII, section 3(e)’s provision for a local election to approve such ad valorem taxes, and with its stated intent to leave such decisions to local as opposed to state authorities.
As we stated in Edgewood III, “Clearly, if the State merely authorized a tax but left the decision whether to levy it entirely up to local authorities, to be approved by voters if necessary, then the tax would not be a state tax.”
In WOC //we also considered the system’s “capacity,” citing evidence that districts as a whole were spending over 97% of the revenue that would be available if every district taxed at the cap.
The trial court also considered what the system could raise if districts taxed at $1.17. But here we see a second problem with the trial court’s capacity analysis. It measured the taxing capacity of the system against what it had decided was the amount needed to fund an adequate system under the “cost-of-adequacy” views of experts Odden and Moak.
A better approach to capacity in today’s case, employed in WOC II, is to simply consider the additional revenue that would be available if every district taxed at the maximum rate. The State’s expert Lisa Dawn-Fisher provided such data, showing that an additional $2.3 billion in capacity, or 6-7% of total capacity of the FSP, was available in 2012. So the untapped capacity has roughly doubled from the 3% noted in WOC Z/.
In our 2005 analysis of this issue in WOC II, addressing the system as it existed in 2003-04, we also considered the more than $1 billion in local tax revenues that was recaptured and redistributed by the State,
In WOC II, we held that a systemic violation of article VIII, section 1-e had been established, although in the course of our analysis we noted evidence of “focus districts” struggling to meet accreditation requirements.
Determination of this issue is difficult and does not lend itself to simple numerical solutions.
K. Attorney Fees
The State asks that the case be remanded to the trial court for reconsideration of attorney fees. The trial court awarded millions of dollars in attorney fees to the four ISD Plaintiffs. It denied fees to the State, the Charter School Plaintiffs, and the Intervenors. Fees were awarded under section 37.009 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, allowing for the award of “reasonable and necessary” attorney fees in declaratory judgment actions “as are equitable and just.” In its judgment, the trial court concluded that the awarded fees would be equitable and just even if on appeal the ISD Plaintiffs do not prevail on one or more of their claims, “because they have made significant .contributions to the public debate on school finance law through this lawsuit.”
We have recognized that an award of attorney fees is within the discretion of the trial court, but the question of whether fees are equitable and just is a question of law.
L. Continuing Jurisdiction
The trial court in its judgment states: “The Court will retain continuing jurisdiction over this matter -until the Court has determined that the State Defendants have fully and properly complied with its
Texas courts undoubtedly have the power to enforce their judgments.
III. Conclusion
“it shall be the duty of the Legislature ...”
The Framers of our Texas Constitution . placed the responsibility for education poli-eymaking squarely with the Legislature. Those decisions are not immune from judicial review. Lawmakers decide if laws pass, and judges decide if those laws pass muster. But our lenient standard of review in this policy-laden area counsels modesty. The judicial role is not to second-guess whether our system is optimal, but whether it is constitutional.
Our Byzantine school funding “system” is undeniably imperfect, with immense room for improvement. But it satisfies minimum constitutional requirements. Accordingly, we decline to usurp legislative authority by issuing reform diktats from on- high, supplanting lawmakers’ policy wisdom with our own.
The Texas Legislature, the center of policymaking gravity, is not similarly bound. And smartly so. Our Constitution endows the people’s elected representatives with vast discretion in fulfilling their constitutional duty to fashion a school system fit for our dynamic and fast-growing State’s unique characteristics. We hope lawmakers will seize this urgent challenge and upend an ossified regime ill-suited for 21st century Texas.
The trial court’s judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part. We remand the issue of attorney fees to the trial court. We render a take-nothing judgment on all of the Plaintiffs’ and Intervenors’ other claims.
. Tex. Educ. Code § 4.001(a).
. Id. § 28.001.
. 176 S.W.3d 746, 764 (Tex.2005).
. Tex. Educ. Code §§ 12.111(a)(1), 28.002(a)(1). Social studies consists of Texas, United States, and world history, government, economics, and geography. Id. § 28.002(a)(1)(D).
. Id. § 28.002(a)(2).
. Id. § 29.051.
. The SBOE consists of 15 elected members. Id. § 7.101.
. Id. § 28.002(c).
. 176 S.W.3d at 765.
. Tex. Educ. Code § 28.008(d).
. Id. § 39.024(a).
. Id. § 28.002(c).
. 176 S.W.3d at 765.
. Id.
. See Tex. Educ. Code § 39.023(c-4).
. See id. § 39.023(c).
. The Commissioner of Education is appointed by the Governor and heads the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Id. §§ 7.002,7.051.
. 176 S.W.3d at 766.
. Tex. Educ. Code § 39.054(a).
. Id. §§ 39.053(c), 39.054(b).
. Id. § 39.052(b)(1).
. Id. § 39.052(f).
. Id. §§ 39.102, 39.104.
. Id. § 39.103.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 758.
. Tex. Educ. Code § 42.002(a)(1).
. Id. § 42.002(b)(1).
. See id. § 42.2516(a).
. Id. § 45.003(d).
. Tex. Tax Code § 26.08.
. See Tex. Educ. Code § 42.101.
. Id. § 42.102. The trial court found that “[t]he CEI is based on five school district characteristics that were measured in 1989— 90 — district size, type, percentage of low income students, average beginning salary in surrounding districts, and location in a county with a population of less than 40,000." Trial court Finding of Fact (FOF) 597.
. Id. §§ 42.103, 42.105.
. Id. § 42.101(c).
. Id.
. Id. §§ 42.151 — . 160.
. Id. § 42.152. The statute refers to "educationally disadvantaged" students, but we conform to the parties’ reference to these students as economically disadvantaged.
. Id. § 42.153.
. Id. § 42.252.
. FOF 42.
. See Tex. Educ Code § 42.302(a).
. Id. § 42.302.
. See id. § 42.302(a-l)(l).
. Id. § 42.302(a-l)(2).
. 917 S.W.2d 717 (Tex.1995).
. Tex. Educ. Code § 41.003; Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 728.
. See Tex. Educ. Code § 41.002(a); FOFs 45-46.
. FOF46.
. See Tex. Educ. Code § 41.002(a)(3).
. See FOF 50; see also Tex. Educ. Code § 42.2516.
. See Tex. Educ. Code § 45.003.
. Id. § 45.0031(a).
. Id. §§ 46.001-.003.
. FOF 227.
. See Tex. Educ. Code §§ 46.032-034.
. The Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition; Alief ISD; Canutillo ISD; Elgin ISD; Greenville ISD; Hillsboro ISD; Hutto ISD; Lake Worth ISD; Little Elm ISD; Nac-ogdoches ISD; Paris ISD; Pflugerville ISD; Quinlan ISD; Stamford ISD; Saij Antonio ISD; Taylor ISD; Van ISD; Randy Pittenger; Chip Langston; Norman Baker; Brad King; and Shelby Davidson, individually and as next friend of her three children. TTSFC is composed of 443 school districts. FOF 2.
. Calhoun County ISD; Abernathy ISD; Ar-ansas County ISD; Frisco ISD; Lewisville ISD; and Richardson ISD.
. Edgewood ISD; Harlingen Consolidated ISD; La Feria ISD; McAllen ISD; San Benito Consolidated ISD; Yolanda Canales, individually and on behalf of her children; Arturo Robles, individually and on behalf of his child; Jessica Romero, individually and on behalf of her children; and Araceli Vasquez, individually and on behalf of her children.
. Fort Bend ISD; Abilene ISD; Albany ISD; Allen ISD; Amarillo ISD; Angleton ISD; Austin ISD; Balmorhea ISD; Beaumont ISD; Bluff Dale ISD; Brazosport ISD; Carthage ' ISD; Channelview ISD; Clear Creek ISD; Cleveland ISD; College Station ISD; Coppell ISD; Corsicana ISD; Crosby ISD; Cypress-
.Hence, we refer to the ISD Plaintiffs other than CCISD as the Financial Efficiency Plaintiffs in our discussion of the financial efficiency issue below.
. Texas Charter Schools Association; Mario Flores, individually and as parent and next friend of his child; Christopher Baerga, individually and as parent and next friend of his child; Dana Allen, individually and as parent and next friend of her child; Jason Christensen and Sarah Christensen, individually and as parents and next friends of their children; and Brooks Flemister, individually and as parent and next friend of his child.
. For convenience we sometimes refer to all of the Plaintiffs and Intervenors, or the subset of these parties who raised a particular argument, simply as “Plaintiffs.”
. Joyce Coleman, individually and as next friend of her children; Danessa Bolling, individually and as next friend of her child; Lee Beall and Aliena Beall, individually and as next friends of their children; Joel Smedsh-ammer and Andrea Smedshammer, individually and as next friends of their children; Darlene Menn, individually and as next friend of her child; Texans for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education; and Texas Association of Business.
. Judgment ¶¶ 11(1), 11(2), 111(4).
. Tex Educ. Code § 29.052(1). See also FOF 332.
. FOF 13.
. FOF 245.
. The Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law are found at 2014 WL 4254969.
. Judgment ¶ IX(1); COL 95.
. Id. KXI.
. See Tex. Gov't Code § 22.001(c).
. See W. Orange-Cove Consol. Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Alanis, 107 S.W.3d 558, 585 (Tex. 2003) ("We do not agree with the dissent that the importance of stare decisis can be minimized in this area. For fourteen years the Legislature has worked to bring the public school finance system into conformity with constitutional requirements as declared by this Court. To announce now that we have simply changed our minds on matters that have been crucial to the development of the public education system would not only threaten havoc to the system, but would, far more importantly, undermine the rule of law to which the Court is firmly pledged.”).
. Edgewood Ind. Sch. Dist. v. Kirby, 111 S.W.2d 391 (1989).
. Id. at 392.
. Id. at 398.
. Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Kirby, 804 S.W.2d 491 (Tex.1991).
. Id. at 496 (citation, footnote omitted).
. Id. at 499.
. Carrollton-Farmers Branch Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist., 826 S.W.2d 489 (Tex.1992).
.Id. at 498.
. Id. at 500.
. Id.
. Id. at 502.
. Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Meno, 917 S.W.2d 717 (Tex.1995).
. Id. at 727-28.
. Id. at 730.
. Id.
. Id. at 738.
. W. Orange-Cove Consol. Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Alanis, 107 S.W.3d 558 (Tex.2003).
. Id. at 576.
. Id. at 578 (quoting Edgewood III, 826 S.W.2d at 502).
. Id. at 578-83.
. Neeley v. W. Orange-Cove Consol. Indep. Sch. Dist., 176 S.W.3d 746 (Tex.2005).
. Id. at 772-83.
. Id. at 752-53.
. Id. at 753.
. Id. at 790.
. Id. at 794-98.
. Id. at 795.
. For example, high school students Zaakir Tameez and Amy Fan, with the help of other students, have filed an excellent amicus brief, stating: "We encourage the justices to remember their time as children, and reflect on what role music, drama, art, and sports played in their lives as kids.... We are willing to bet most justices of this Court remember their good and bad teachers from high school to this day.” We do remember.
. Tex. R. App. P. 57.2; see also Tex. Gov’t Code § 22.001(c).
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 785.
. Id.; see also Tex. Workers’ Comp. Comm'n v. Garcia, 893 S.W.2d 504, 520 (Tex.1995) (holding that trial court’s fact findings play a "limited role” in reviewing the constitutionality of a legislative enactment and whether "the Legislature has acted arbitrarily”).
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 785.
. Edgewood TV, 917 S.W.2d at 725; Edgewood III, 826 S.W.2d at 493.
. 176 S.W.3d at 784-85.
. Id. at 790.
. Id. at 785.
. Id.
. Id. at 778.
. 777 S.W.2d at 394.
. Id.
. 107 S.W.3d at 563-64, quoted in WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 777.
. 176 S.W.3d at 778.
. Id.
. Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 730 n. 8.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 774.
. Id. at 776 (noting that individuals, including taxpayers, "were free to intervene” and that “individuals would have standing to raise the claims in this case”).
. Heckman v. Williamson Cnty., 369 S.W.3d 137, 154 (Tex.2012).
. Id. at 155.
. See, e.g., WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 753-54 (describing trial court injunction); Edgewood III, 826 S.W.2d at 523 n. 42; Edgewood II, 804 S.W.2d at 493, 498-99 & nn. 16-17 (describing trial court's injunction in Edgewood I, as modified by the Court in Edgewood II ).
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 771 (quoting trial court injunction enjoining the State from “giving any force and effect to the sections of the Education Code relating to the financing of public school education (Chapters 41 and 42 of the Education Code) and from distributing any money under the current Texas school financing system until the constitutional violations are remedied’’).
. See Andrade v. NAACP of Austin, 345 S.W.3d 1, 16 (Tex.2011) (stating that courts cannot direct what laws the Legislature must enact to comply with a constitutional provision); Terrazas v. Ramirez, 829 S.W.2d 712, 720 (Tex.1991) (“After a legislative plan has been invalidated, respect for the separation of powers explicitly recognized in article II, section 1 of our Constitution requires that the Legislature be given a reasonable opportunity to enact a substitute statute.”).
. See, e.g., Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 726-27 (describing legislative responses to Edgewood I, Edgewood II, and Edgewood III decisions).
. Perry v. Del Rio, 66 S.W.3d 239, 250 (Tex.2001).
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 753.
. Id. at 787.
. Id. at 788.
. Id. at 787; WOC I, 107 S.W.3d at 581; Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 730 & n. 8.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 790.
. See FOFs 610-20.
. FOFs 619-20.
. FOF 621.
. FOF 622.
. FOF 631.
. FOF 632.
. See, e.g., FOFs 633-35; COL 33; Judgment ¶ 111(2).
. FOF 636.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 788.
. For example, the second adequacy declaration states:
The ISD Plaintiffs have shown that the cost of meeting the constitutional mandate of adequacy (the “general diffusion of knowledge”) exceeds the maximum amount of funding that is available to them at the $1.04 M & O tax rate (the highest rate accessible without a TRE). Accordingly, THIS COURT DECLARES the State’s school finance system fails to satisfy the Article VII, Section I adequacy requirement*851 as to the ISD Plaintiffs districts. The ISD Plaintiffs also have shown that the cost of meeting the constitutional mandate of adequacy exceeds the amount of funding that is or would be available to them at the maximum $1.17 M & O tax rate. Accordingly, THIS COURT DECLARES the State's school finance system fails to satisfy the Article VII, Section I adequacy requirement as to the ISD Plaintiffs districts.
Judgment ¶ 11(3).
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 785.
. 777 S.W.2d at 393.
. 176 S.W.3d at 788.
. 411 U.S. 1, 93 S.Ct. 1278, 36 L.Ed.2d 16 (1973).
. Id. at 42-43, 93 S.Ct. 1278.
. James S. Coleman et al„ Equality of Educational Opportunity (U.S. Office of Education 1966), available at http://files.eric.ed.gov/ fulltext/EDO 12275 .pdf.
. Barbara J. Kiviat, The Social Side of Schooling, Johns Hopkins Magazine (April 2000), available at http://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/ 0400web/l 8.html.
. Colehjan, supra note 146, at 8. See also id. at 325 ("Taking all these results together, one implication stands out above all: That schools bring little influence to bear on a child's achievement that is independent of his background and general social context; and that this very lack of an independent effect means that the inequalities imposed on children by their home, neighborhood, and peer environment are carried along to become the inequalities with which they confront adult life at the end of school.").
. Id. at 21-22.
. Adam Gamoran & Daniel A. Long, Equality of Educational Opportunity: A 40-Year Retrospective 3, 19 (Wis. Ctr. for Educ. Research, Working Paper No. 2006-9, 2006), available at http://wcer-web.ad.education. wisc.edu/docs/working-papers/Working_ Paper_No_2006_09.pdf.
. Id. at 8.
. For example, as support for "a significant causal relationship between school funding and improvements in long-term educational outcomes," amici curiae Center for Public Policy Priorities et al. cite C. Kirabo Jackson et al., The Effect of School Finance Reforms on the Distribution of Spending, Academic Achievement, and Adult Outcomes (Nat’l Bureau of Econ. Research, Working Paper No.’ 20118, 2014). Amici Curiae Senator Phil Gramm and Stacy Hock quote another study for the opposite conclusion, that "there is essentially no link between state education spending (which has exploded) and the performance of students at the end of high school (which has generally stagnated or declined).” Andrew J. Coulson, State Education Trends: Academic Peifonnance and Spending over the Past 40 Years 4 (Cato Inst. Policy Analysis No. 746, March 18, 2014), available at http:// obj ect. cato. org/sites/cato .org/files/pubs/pdl/pa 746.pdf. Amicus Curiae The Goldwater Institute quotes the conclusion of another researcher and expert witness for the Interve-nors that “no currently available evidence shows that past judicial actions about school finance — either related to equity or adequacy- — -have had a beneficial effect on student performance,” and that court-ordered spending increases have not boosted student performance for this "quite obvious” reason: "Measures of school resources do not provide guidance either about the current quality of schools or about the potential for improving matters.” Eric A. Hanushek, Introduction, in Courting Failure: How School Finance Lawsuits Exploit Judges’ Good Intentions and Harm Our Children xxiii-xxiv (Eric A. Hanushek
. 917 S.W.2d at 731 n. 10.
. FOF 628.
. Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 731 & n. 12.
. Nor was this issue tried in the trial court. Justice Spector's dissent explained that the trial court had "severed out what it called the 'adequacy issues' including the issue of 'whether the legislature appropriates sufficient funds for districts to provide a constitutionally, minimally acceptable education.” Id. at 768 (Spector, J., dissenting).
. Id. at 730.
. E.g., id. at 731 (recognizing that districts had "the funds necessary for a general diffusion of knowledge”); WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 785 ("It would be arbitrary, for example, for the Legislature to define the goals for accomplishing the constitutionally required general diffusion of knowledge, and then to provide insufficient means for achieving those goals.”); id. at 788 ("[I]t is useful to consider how funding levels and mechanisms relate to better-educated students.”).
. For example, COL 32 holds:
This Court rejects the notion that the general diffusion of knowledge requires expenditures only in the instructional program described in statute and that other expenditures are merely “extraneous.” A district cannot provide a constitutionally adequate education without a sufficient support network, which may include, among other things, (a) adequate and well-maintained facilities, (b) nurses to keep students healthy, (c) security guards in certain schools to keep students safe, (d) guidance counselors to help students with course selection and with planning for college and careers, (e) paraprofessionals to provide vital assistance to teachers, (f) libraries with both print and electronic resources and librarians to assist students and teachers in using these resources, (g) tutors to help struggling students, and (h) transportation. (See supra Part I.C.3.d (FOF 575, et seq.).) In some districts, the general diffusion of knowledge may additionally require programs designed to keep students in school until graduation.
. The trial court referred to best practices in FOFs 488, 612, 615, 1190, 1191, 1197, 1199, and COL 31. By way of example, COL 31 holds:
Measures that superintendents and other experts have identified as best practices to -attain the legislatively mandated outcome objective of college and career readiness include, among other things, (a) manageable class sizes, particularly for economically disadvantaged and ELL populations, (b) preschool programs of sufficient quality to provide a “head start” to special needs students, (c) remedial and literacy programs to help ELL, economically disadvantaged, and other special needs students, including*856 summer school and after school programs, (d) salaries that can attract and retain sufficient numbers of qualified teachers, and (e) vocational and career courses to give those students that cannot attend college an opportunity to succeed in post-secondary employment settings.... The Court identifies these practices as examples of ways to accomplish the general diffusion of knowledge, not to order the Legislature to adopt these practices as per se constitutional; however, where, research supports a practice as effective, an approach that undermines those practices, without replacing them with another approach that is supported by research as reasonable, could be considered arbitrary and unconstitutional.
. For example, FOF 615 finds:
Some of the key strategies recommended by Dr. Odden's evidence-based approach include (1) core teachers for class sizes of fifteen in kindergarten through third grade and of twenty-five in grades four through twelve, (2) full-day kindergarten; (3) specialist teachers at 20% of core teachers at elementary and middle schools and 33% at high school, and (4) instructional coaches to provide professional development, including classroom observation and feedback for teachers.... Dr. Odden's evidence-based model provides additional resources, including tutors and summer school, which are targeted toward struggling students.... These strategies are supported by the evidence as “best practices” and are credible factors for determining the cost of education. Dr. Odden testified that Texas is unlikely to substantially improve student performance without implementing the core interventions recommended by his evidence-based model.
. FOF 620.
. FOF 615.
. COL 30.
. Edgeood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 725 ("[W]e begin with the presumption that [the system] is constitutional; the burden of proof is on those parties challenging this presumption.”).
.See Tex. Educ. Agency, Academic Excellence Indicator System, http://ritter.tea.state. tx.us/perfreport/aeis.
.The trial court's Judgment at paragraph 11(2) declared:
The Edgewood ISD Plaintiffs have further shown that the costs of providing a general diffusion of knowledge to economically disadvantaged and English Language Learner students exceed the funding provided through the current system, due to the arbitrarily designed and insufficient weights for those students. This defect coupled with the arbitrarily designed and insufficient Foundation School Program funding made available to districts like the Edgewood ISD Plaintiffs cumulatively prevent those districts from generating sufficient resources to accomplish a general diffusion of knowledge for the State’s economically disadvantaged and English Language Learner students. Accordingly, THIS COURT DECLARES that the Texas school finance system violates the "make suitable provision" clause in Article VII, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution because the system is not "structured, operated, and funded so that it can accomplish its purpose [of providing a general diffusion of knowledge] for [economically disadvantaged and English Language Learner] children." WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 753.
Paragraph 111(4) declared:
The Edgewood ISD Plaintiffs, the TTSFC Plaintiffs, and the Fort Bend ISD Plaintiffs have further shown that economically disadvantaged students and English Language Learner students are not achieving a general diffusion of knowledge and that the cost of providing a general diffusion of knowledge to these students exceeds the amount of funding made available for their education under the current school finance system. The Court concludes the funding for economically disadvantaged and English Language Learner students is inadequate and arbitrary. Accordingly, THIS COURT DECLARES the current public school finance system is inadequate for the provision of a general diffusion of knowledge for economically disadvantaged and English Language Learner students under Article VII, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution.
. 176 S.W.3d at 789.
. Id. at 790 (emphasis added, footnote and internal quotation marks omitted).
.Id. at 788 (emphasis added).
. Id. at 801 (Brister, J., dissenting).
. South Carolina v. United States, 199 U.S. 437, 449, 26 S.Ct. 110, 50 L.Ed. 261 (1905).
. For example, FOF 520 finds:
Based on the output data described above in Parts 'I.C.2.a.iii (FOF 298, et seq.) and I.C.2.b.iii (FOF 349, et seq.), the Court finds that economically disadvantaged and ELL students are not achieving a general diffusion of knowledge. The inability of districts to offer the necessary interventions {see supra Part I.C.2.C (FOF 379, et seq.)) to help these populations overcome the educational obstacles they face {see supra Parts I.C.2.a.i (FOF 277, et seq.) and I.C.2.b.i (FOF 333, et seq.)) means that school districts are not able to provide these students with a meaningful opportunity to achieve a general diffusion of knowledge. Therefore, the Court finds that the education system is constitutionally inadequate as to economically disadvantaged and ELL students.
.The Report states:
This analysis concentrated on the educational opportunities offered by the schools in terms of their student body composition, facilities, curriculums, and teachers. This emphasis, while entirely appropriate as a response to the legislation calling for the survey, nevertheless neglects*860 important factors in the variability between individual pupils within the same school; this variability is roughly four times as large as the variability between schools. For example, a pupil attitude factor, which appears to have a stronger relationship to achievement than do all the "school" factors together, is the extent to which an individual feels that he has some control over his own destiny.
Coleman, supra note 146, at 22-23.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 788.
. Tex. Educ. Code § 42.152(a).
. Id. § 42.153(a).
. See Tex. Educ. Code §§ 42.102 (CEI adjustment), 42.103-.104 (small and mid-sized district adjustment), 42.105 (sparcity adjustment).
. See supra note 32 and accompanying text.
. FOF 598.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 788.
. FOF 1470.
. COLs 41, 78-79. While the trial court issued these conclusions in assessing suitability rather than adequacy, the two requirements overlap, as we note in the next part of our opinion. The two elements particularly overlap in this case because the trial court's suitability analysis was tied to its adequacy determination that the school system was underfunded. COLs 41, 78, and 79 all expressly concluded that the system was unsuitable because it did not provide “sufficient resources to accomplish a general diffusion of knowledge.”
. FOF 404.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 753 (emphasis added).
. Id. at 788.
. Judgment ¶ III(l).
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 778.
. Id.
. Id. at 790.
. Tex. Educ. Code §§ 39.054(b), 39.053(c)(1).
. Id. §§ 39.052, 39.104.
. 917 S.W.2d at 730.
. 107 S.W.3d at 581.
. Id.
. Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 730 n. 8 ("This is not to say that the Legislature may define what constitutes a general diffusion of knowledge so low as to avoid its obligation to make suitable provision imposed by article VII, section 1.”); WOC I, 107 S.W.3d at 581 ("[A]n accredited education may provide more than a general diffusion of knowledge, or vice versa[.]”).
. 2014 Accountability System State Summary, http://ritter.lea.state.tx.us/perfreport/ account/2 014/statesummary .html.
. 2015 Accountability System State Summary, http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/ account/2015/ statesummary.html.
. 176 S.W.3d at 769.
. FOF 117.
. 176 S.W.3d at 788.
. FOF 120 n.32.
. 176 S.W.3d at 766-67.
. Id. at 789.
. Id. at 766.
. FOF 89.
. FOF 130.
. Id.
. FOF 140.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 768.
. Id. at 789.
. The director of the TEA student assessment division testified:
I think any time we move to a new — a new system, whether it is the assessment system, whether it’s the curriculum standards, there’s a certain sort of settling in period, you know, if you will. And we also move—*866 every time we move to a new assessment system or new curriculum standards, generally it’s because it becomes more rigorous. And educators need time in order to adapt to the new cognitive demands. They need time for professional development. Students need time to become familiar with the assessments. And so we allow a phase-in'' period so that all of those things can happen before we would hold students'to the final recommended standards.'
She also testified that "student performance in the first year of a new [testing] program tends to be lower than it was in the last year of the previous program, and we see increases over time.”
. FOF 140.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 788 (emphasis added).
. Texas Education Agency, Class of 2015 STAAR End-of-Course Exam Passing Rate Hits 92 Percent (May 29, 2015), htlp://tea. texas. go v/About_TEA/News_ancLMultimedia/ Press_Releases/2015/Class_of_2015_ STAARB>_end-of-course_exam_passing_rate_ hits_92_percent/. This passage rate is the graduation passing rate, a phase-in rate, not the final Level II standard passing rate.
. Id.
. 176 S.W.3d at 768-69, 789.
. FOFs 170-175.
. Tex. Educ. Code §§ 39.052(b)(1), 39.053(c)(3), 39.054(b).
. Fort Bend points to other data that the Texas graduation rate was 75.4% and ranked 28th among the States. However, this data is from 2009 and the expert presenting it testified that “[t]he calculation method that the U.S. Department of Education is presently using ... is the 'superior way to calculate graduation rates.”
. http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/ACGR_2010-ll_to_2012-13.asp.
. http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/tables/ACGR_RE_ and_characteristics_2012-13 .asp.
. 176 S.W.3d at 769; see also id. at 789 (noting high dropout rates in assessing adequacy requirement).
. See supra note 220 and infra.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 789-90.
. Id. at 790.
. Id. at 793.
. Id. at 794.
. Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 736.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 793.
. Id. at 753.
. Id. at 793.
. WOC I, 107 S.W.3d at 584.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 794.
. Id. at 793 (emphasis added).
. WOC I, 107 S.W.3d at 563-64.
. The Edgewood Plaintiffs appear to agree, contending that the suitability requirement focuses on whether "the entire system” is accomplishing it goals.
. 176 S.W.3d at 794.
. Tex. Educ. Code § 28.002(c).
. Id. §§ 39.052(f), 39.102-.104.
. See FOF 125 (finding that system was unsuitable because "[t]he Legislature failed to provide additional financial support with the introduction of the STAAR regime”); COL 41 (holding system unsuitable because it does not "generate sufficient resources to accomplish a general diffusion of knowledge”); COL 42 (holding system unsuitable because it "bears no relationship to the actual cost of providing access to a constitutionally adequate education”); Judgment ¶ 11(1) (declaring system unsuitable because "the costs of providing a general diffusion of knowledge exceed the funding provided”).
. We refer to those Plaintiffs alleging violation of the financial efficiency requirement as the Financial Efficiency Plaintiffs.
. 777 S.W.2d at 397.
. 804 S.W.2d at 496.
. See Edgewood I, 777 S.W.2d at 397 (holding that financial efficiency does not "require a per capita distribution”).
. Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 730-31.
. Edgewood II, 804 S.W.2d at 500.
. 777 S.W.2d at 392-93.
. 917 S.W.2d at 731.
. Id.
. Id. at 728, 731.
. Id. at 731 n. 12.
. 176 S.W.3d at 792.
. Id. at 756. .
. Id. at 762.
. The briefing indicates there is some confusion about this evidence from WOC II. Our review of the WOC II record indicates that these numbers reflect actual spending based on tax rates the districts had chosen. The numbers are weighted averages and were not
. TTSFC contends, for example, that “the evidence is clear that under the current system, funding for adequacy is so low that there is no enrichment for a majority of districts.” Fort Bend says, “Even if districts taxed at the statutory cap, the vast majority of districts cannot raise the money necessary to provide a general diffusion of knowledge.” Edgewood says, “The reality, however, is that property-poor and even some property-wealthy districts rely on Tier II funding to provide the minimum adequate education mandated by the Education Code.” Presumably, excluding any revenues spent on optional enrichment from the calculation of ratios would decrease the ratios and indicate greater financial efficiency, because rich districts have more funds for enrichment than poor districts.
. Clark calculated weighted-average figures for 2013-14, using funding formulae and target revenue calculations for 2013-14 and known 2012 M & O tax rates.
. For these calculations, Clark did not use the same method she had previously used of assigning an equal number of districts to each decile, so the calculations are not strictly comparable.
.The differences between the Pierce and Dawn-Fisher numbers appear to be due to the way their exhibits identify the top and bottom 5% and whether they use a weighted or simple average. As we understand the methods, Dawn-Fisher took the number of districts — 51—comprising 5% of the total number of districts, and then calculated a weighted-average revenue per WADA figure for the richest and poorest 51 districts. The weighting adjusted for the differing sizes of districts, by dividing the total revenue for the group by the total WADA number. Pierce took .the number of poorest and richest districts needed to comprise approximately 5% of students measured by WADA. So he used' 46 districts for the bottom 5% and 111 districts for the top 5%. He then calculated a simple average revenue number for these districts, by adding up the separate per-WADA funding for each district in the group, and then dividing by the number of districts in the group. The parties dispute which method is better. The State and CCISD argue that Pierce was the only expert out of six who did not use weighted averages, and that his simple averages are distorted by a few wealthy
. FOFs 1426-35.
. 176 S.W.3d at 791.
. FOF 1376.
. Edgewood I, 777 S.W.2d at 397.
. See id. at 393 (describing the richest districts as spending an average of $7,233 per students at an average tax rate of 47 cents, while the poorest spent an average of $2,978 at an average tax rate of 74.5 cents).
. 917 S.W.2d at 730-31.
. Id. at 131 n. 12.
. As described supra note 260, there are numerous parameters that can be used in making these sorts of calculations, and depending on the precise methods employed, the ultimate resulting ratios can vary.
. E.g., FOFs 1205-06, 1210-13, 1217-19, 1222-33, 1237-40, 1278, 1444-47.
. E.g., FOFs 1289-1300.
. 176 S.W.3d at 792.
. 777 S.W.2d at 395.
. 917 S.W.2d at 730.
. 176 S.W.3d at 752-53.
. Id. at 753.
. Id. at 787.
. WOC I, 107 S.W.3d at 571.
. The State says in its briefing that, setting aside its jurisdictional arguments, "the system conceivably could produce the required results and thus be constitutionally adequate, yet be inefficient because it arbitrarily wastes too many resources to achieve those results.”
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 777 (quoting WOC I, 107 S.W.3d at 563-64).
. Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 726.
. Id. at 747 (quoting Edgewood I, Ill S.W.2d at 399).
. See Tex. Educ. Code §§ 61.221-.230.
. Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 726.
. WOC II, 116 S.W.3d at 779.
. Id. at 802 (Brister, J., dissenting).
. Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 730 n. 8.
. The Charter School Plaintiffs also complained to the trial court about the cap, but do not urge this claim on appeal.
. Tex. Educ. Code § 12.101(b-l), (b-2).
. See id. §§ 12.002, 12.011-.04 (home-rule school district charters), 12.051-065 (campus or campus program charters); 12.101 — . 136 (open-enrollment charters). A fourth category of charter schools, "university” charter schools, are generally subject to provisions governing open-enrollment charter schools. Seeid.§§ 12.151-156.
. COLs 61, 89.
. Tex. Educ. Code §§ 46.003, .012, .032, .036.
. 777 S.W.2d at 397 (emphasis added).
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 785.
. FOF 1497.
. Tex. Educ. Code § 12.001(5).
. See id. §§ 12.103-.104 (limiting requirements of Education Code on open-enrollment charter schools to specified provisions), 21.002(a) (contract requirements), 21.055 (teacher certification and degree requirements), 21.402 (salary requirements).
. See id. § 25.111 (student-teacher ratios), 25.112 (class size).
. See id. § 42.158.
. See id. §§ 12.106(a-l) & (a-2), 42.102-.105, 42.302.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 790.
. FOF 1495.
. See Tex. Educ. Code §§ 12.106(a), 42.151-160.
. The State argues, as a separate ground for rejecting some of the claims of the Charter School Plaintiffs, that the claims are seeking to reform the charter schools’ contracts with the State, and that suits on a contract are barred by sovereign immunity. We do not reach this issue.
. 826 S.W.2d at 502.
. 917 S.W.2d at 738.
. Id.
. Edgewood III, 826 S.W.2d at 503.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 796.
. Id. at 794.
. 107 S.W.3d at 583.
. COLs 76-77.
. FOF 213.
. 826 S.W.2d at 503 (emphasis added).
. 917 S.W.2d at 737.
. 176 S.W.3d at 763, 796.
. FOFs 215-18. The court expressly referenced the analyses of Odden and Moak. It did not reference Baker, but relied on another expert, Dr. Catherine Clark, who like Baker arrived at a cost for an adequate education by adjusting for inflation the $3,500 figure given in Edgewood IV ’s footnote 10.
. 176 S.W.3d at 796.
. Id. at 797.
. Edgewood III, 826 S.W.2d at 500, 502.
. WOC II, 176 S.W.3d at 797.
. 107 S.W.3d at 579.
. As we understand the findings, the trial court made reference to 36 "focus” districts but only made adequacy and statewide tax findings as to 35 of them, excluding Hillsboro ISD. See FOFs 9, 210, 680-1187.
. The trial court also held on page 3 of its judgment that "local districts do not have meaningful discretion in the levy, assessment, and disbursement of property taxes; therefore, the Texas school finance system imposes an unconstitutional state property tax.” Again, the court did not break out any particular district or districts and separately hold that it or them had established a violation of article VIII, section 1-e.
. 176 S.W.3d at 796.
. Id. at 797.
. Id. at 795-96.
. See id. at 796 (reaffirming Court’s view that "State influence on district taxing and spending cannot be measured exactly but must be gauged along a spectrum of possibilities”).
. Judgment ¶ X.
. City of Lorena v. BMTP Holdings, L.P., 409 S.W.3d 634, 646 (Tex.2013); Bocquet v. Herring, 972 S.W.2d 19, 21 (Tex.1998).
. Barshop v. Medina Underground Water Conservation Dist., 925 S.W.2d 618, 637 (Tex.1996).
. WOC II, 116 S.W.3d at 799 (remanding fee issue where appellate court rules that a party awarded fees is "entitled to only a part of the relief granted by the district court” or “no relief”); City of Lorena, 409 S.W.3d at 646; Edwards Aquifer Auth. v. Chem. Lime, Ltd., 291 S.W.3d 392, 405 (Tex.2009); Barshop, 925 S.W.2d at 637-38.
. Judgment ¶ XI.
. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 308.
. City of San Antonio v. Singleton, 858 S.W.2d 411, 412 (Tex.1993).
. Tex. Const, art. VII, § 1.
Concurrence Opinion
joined by JUSTICE LEHRMANN, concurring.
“It is ■easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
—Frederick Douglass
A strong public education system is fundamental to building strong children. Regrettably, this lawsuit — the most recent salvo in a long-waged battle over public-school funding — signals widespread dissatisfaction with the current system for financing public education in Texas. The majority of school districts — some property-rich, some property-poor — are joined by various individuals, organizations, charter schools, students, and parents in challenging the school-finance system’s constitutionality. The suit marries novel arguments based on new standards of “qualitative efficiency” and accountability with more familiar ones, including allegations that the system imposes an unconstitutional property tax and is constitutionally inadequate, unsuitable, and inefficient.
I
Our state constitution is a marvel — the intentional design of the people of Texas— but its very length and detail is a testament to the core belief that our state government, including the Legislature, must be guided and limited in the exercise of its power and discretion. The Legislature may devise and adopt highly complex laws and systems, but its enactments can and must be measured against the requirements of the charter that established its authority to govern and defines its powers and duties. In the checks and balances of our political system, the Legislature’s powers are not unfettered. Those aggrieved by legislative action are not entirely without recourse and may, in a proper case, seek judicial review.' While the Legislature has the duty and privilege to balance the myriad policy choices inherent in adopting and financing an educational system that serves the diverse citizenry of this vast state, this Court is charged with determining whether the sum of those choices passes constitutional muster.
The power of the courts is not unbounded, however. We can review, but not rewrite, the Legislature’s enactments; we can only grade pass or fail, yes or no. As the Court explains, here and in our prior cases, article VII, section 1 of the Texas Constitution affords the Legislature great discretion.
Good enough now, however, does not mean that the system is good or that it will continue to be enough. ■ Shortfalls in both resources and performance persist in innumerable respects, and a perilously large number of students is in danger of falling further behind. In the last fifteen years, the number of economically disadvantaged students served by Texas schools has risen significantly and continues to outpace increases in the overall student population.
Low-income' students come to school without the advantages enjoyed by many of their classmates, often without the same life experiences and frame of reference as • more affluent students. Poor children may never have been more than a few blocks away from home, never had access to computers or visited a museum. Their families, often lacking the means to provide academic support and stability, are struggling to provide their children with reliable nutrition, health care, housing, and transportation and, as a result, may move often. Once in school, low-income children are frequently without the opportunity, means, or transportation for extracurricular activities, after-school tutoring, summer school, or other enrichment activities. As the Court concedes, there are conflicting studies on whether family characteristics like socioeconomic status or parental education matter more to student success than expenditures.
To capitalize on the progress that has been achieved to date and to guard against
II
As the Court observes, the Legislature has implemented a variety of methods to address the systemic needs of economically disadvantaged students. The Legislature has provided an additional per-student allotment for economically disadvantaged students, computed by multiplying these students’ average daily attendance by a factor of .2. Lately, legislative solutions have centered on controversial new testing and reporting requirements. Charter schools, a once-popular suggestion for innovation, remain an experiment in progress, and in this litigation, charter schools are among those claiming that more money is necessary to provide an adequate system. Consolidation of school districts, on the other hand, seems to be an unpopular idea, but a few school districts have consolidated since this Court last noted the inefficiency created by a “multitude” of small school districts.
The Legislature has also employed targeted grant programs to fund full-day prekindergarten. In a report to the Legislature, former Commissioner of Education Robert Scott recommended full funding for prekindergarten “early start” grants, describing it as a “critical”' program that supports student progress from prekindergarten through the twelfth grade. Economically disadvantaged students may lag as much as eighteen months behind their peers when they enter kindergarten, but this gap can be cut in half with an effective prekindergarten program. In 2011, however, the Legislature eliminated grant funding in its entirety, cutting what at one time had been some $200 million per biennium in targeted grants for full-day prekindergarten. Some funding was restored in 2013, but the amount — $30 million per biennium- — was only 15% of the pre-2011 level. Districts with a high level of need, but few financial resources, remain hampered in their ability to serve their disadvantaged students. Edgewood ISD presents a case in point: more than 90% of its students are economically disadvantaged, and the District lacks the $1.2 million necessary to serve the children on its prekindergarten waitlist. These children remain at risk of falling further and further behind.
Ill
While there has been progress over the last twenty years, the need for more is apparent. A number of measures show a continuing gap between economically disadvantaged students and students overall, including the four-year graduation statistics cited, in part, by the Court. Four-year graduation and dropout statistics track students who started together in the same ninth-grade cohort over four years to determine what percentage of those students graduate, drop out, or continue in school.
In any event, graduation is only half the battle. Graduation in itself means little if it is not a meaningful hallmark for achievement. The State’s current measure of achievement — STAAR test results — shows an ongoing achievement gap between students overall and economically disadvantaged students. In 2013, 71% of all fourth graders met the first “phase-in” STAAR level for reading proficiency, but only 63% of economically disadvantaged fourth graders fared as well.
A more pressing concern is the risk that performance gains achieved over the last decade are eroding. The Court notes, as a high point among otherwise lackluster NAEP test results, that average mathematics scores for all Texas eighth graders rose from 281 to 290 between 2005 to 2011.
What may be far more interesting about the NAEP data is that it shows a much wider achievement disparity between students who are poor and those who are not. For mathematics scores, the gap between non-disadvantaged . and disadvantaged eighth graders was 23 points in 2011, and 22 points in 2015, but scores dropped for both groups. The gap in reading scores— less stellar all around — was 21 points in 2011 and 20 points in 2015.
If we chose to grade Texas in comparison to other states, we could definitely say Texas is not the worst. In 2015, Texas placed 7th on math scores for economically disadvantaged eighth graders — significantly better than 26 states and the District of Columbia. On reading scores for this group, however, Texas placed 37th — significantly better than only four states- and the District of Columbia. On results for all students in 2015, Texas ranked 23rd on math scores (significantly better than 19 states and DC) and 39th on reading scores (significantly better than only four states
IV
Constitutionality is a minimum standard — a guarantee — -not a cap on our expectations or our potential. Eleven years after our last school finance case, it still “remains to be seen whether the system’s predicted drift toward constitutional inadequacy will be avoided by legislative reaction to widespread calls for change.”
joined by JUSTICE LEHRMANN and JUSTICE DEVINE, concurring.
Our decision in this case will no doubt be a great disappointment to many, and perhaps a cause for celebration for others. In light of this Court’s extensive and binding precedent, what it should not be is a surprise to anyone. And what it definitely is not is an expression of personal opinions on how Texas should fund and operate its public school system. I join the Court’s opinion and judgment and write this brief concurrence to emphasize why our Constitution and this Court’s precedent require today’s result.
The Texas Constitution states:
A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.
Tex. Const, art. VII, § 1. Over the past twenty-seven years, this Court has repeatedly and extensively addressed, construed, and applied these words.
“ ... it shall be the duty of the Legislature ...”
These eight powerful words directly affect all of the words surrounding them. More importantly, they affect this Court by precluding us from judicially mandating the “efficient system,” “suitable provision,” or “general diffusion of knowledge” we may prefer. And most importantly, they affect the members of the Legislature by imposing on them a solemn obligation on which the very “liberties and rights of the people” depend.
Based on the Constitution’s language, a “general diffusion' of knowledge” is the linchpin for all of the other requirements. Article VII, section 1 makes it “the duty of the Legislature” to ensure a “general diffusion of knowledge”- — no more and no less. Tex. Const, art. VII, § 1. A “gener
But what is a “general diffusion of knowledge”? The Constitution does not say. Nor does it say what constitutes “suitable provision” or an “efficient system.” Since it is typically this Court’s role to construe the Constitution, see, e.g., Harris Cty. Hosp. Dist. v. Tomball Reg’l Hosp., 283 S.W.3d 838, 842 (Tex.2009), we could conceivably assign meanings to these terms that would ensure that Texas has the kind of public school system we think it should have. Conceivably, we could; but constitutionally, we cannot, because:
“ ... it shall be the duty of the Legislature ...”
The Court has previously noted that the terms “general diffusion of knowledge,” “suitable provision,” and “efficient system” are inexact, imprecise, and “import a wide spectrum of considerations.” West Orange-Cove II, 176 S.W.3d at 778; see also Edgewood I, 777 S.W.2d at 394 (“[Tjhese are admittedly not precise terms.... ”). We observed long ago that the meaning of these “elastic” terms depends “upon the necessities of changing times or conditions.” Mumme v. Marrs, 120 Tex. 383, 40 S.W.2d 31, 36 (1931). By using these elastic and imprecise terms and by expressly placing “the duty” on the Legislature, article VII, section 1 “commits to the Legislature, the most democratic branch of the government, the authority to determine the broad range of policy issues involved in providing for public education.” West Orange-Cove II, 176 S.W.3d at 778. The terms are intentionally imprecise because “the State’s provision for a general diffusion of knowledge must reflect changing times, needs, and public expectations.” Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 732 n. 14.
Because the standards that these terms set can be met only through fiscal and public policy choices, the Court has held that the Legislature has the primary responsibility to determine what each of these standards require and how best to meet them:
• “The Legislature is entitled to determine what public education is necessary for the constitutionally required ‘general diffusion of knowledge, [’] and then to determine the means for providing that education.” West Orange-Cove II, 176 S.W.3d at 784 (emphasis added).
• “The word ‘suitable,’ used in connection with the word ‘provision’ ... clearly leaves to the [Ljegislature the right to determine what is suitable, and its determination will not be reviewed by the courts if the act has a real relation to the subject and object of the Constitution.” Mumme, 40 S.W.2d at 36 (emphases added).
• “The Constitution gives to the Legislature ... the ‘primary responsibility to decide how best to achieve an efficient system.’ ” Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 747 (emphasis added) (quoting Edgewood I, 777 S.W.2d at 399).
In other words, the Constitution allows the Legislature “a large measure of discretion on two levels” — both to determine what the constitutional terms mean and require,
Despite the Constitution’s express assignment of “the duty” to the Legislature, it does “provide a standard by which this court must, when called upon to do so, measure the constitutionality of the legislature’s actions.” Edgewood I, 777 S.W.2d at 394. However, our role “is limited to ensuring that the constitutional standards are met. We do not prescribe how the standards should be met.” West Orange-Cove II, 176 S.W.3d at 753. Instead, we must defer to the Legislature and uphold its policy choices unless those choices are “arbitrary” and “unreasonable.” As the Court explained long ago,
Since the Legislature has the mandatory duty to make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools, and has the power to pass any law relative thereto, not prohibited by the Constitution, it necessarily follows that it has a choice in the selection of methods by which the object of the organic law may be effectuated. The Legislature alone is to judge what means are necessary and appropriate for a purpose which the Constitution makes legitimate. The legislative determination of the methods, restrictions, and regulations is final, except when so arbitrary as to be violative of the constitutional rights of the citizen.
Mumme, 40 S.W.2d at 36.
Under this standard, the Court must defer to the Legislature’s primary role and uphold the Legislature’s decisions unless they are arbitrary — that is, “taken without reference to guiding rules or principles”— and unreasonable. West Orange-Cove II, 176 S.W.3d at 784. “If the Legislature’s choices are informed by guiding rules and principles properly related to public education — that is, if the choices are not arbitrary — then the system does not violate the constitutional provision.” Id. at 785. Under our Constitution, the Legislature is free to make whatever changes it determines are appropriate in light of “changing times, needs, and public expectations.” Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 732 n. 14. It can change the required curriculum; it can replace the TAAS test with the TAKS test and the TAKS test with the STAAR test; it can change -the scores required to “pass” whatever test it has settled on; it can change the accreditation standards and adjustment factors and remedial measures; and it can even reduce funding by $4 billion. We may not like what the Legislature does, but we can only intervene as a Court if the Legislature’s decisions are “arbitrary” and “unreasonable” in light of its “duty” to ensure a “general diffusion of knowledge.”
The Legislature has never expressly defined or described a “general diffusion of knowledge.” Instead, it has only implicitly set that bar by statutorily describing the system it has chosen to establish, support, and maintain. The Court has thus looked to the statutes the Legislature has enacted for guidance. In Edgewood IV, for example, the Court concluded that, in Chapter 35 of the Texas Education Code, “the Legislature defines the contours of its constitutional duty to provide a ‘general diffusion of knowledge’ by articulating seven public education goals.” Edgewood IV, 917 S.W.2d at 728. And more recently, the Court equated a “general diffusion of knowledge” with an “accredited education” because the Legislature requires school districts to provide the latter as the means to achieve the former. West Orange-Cove I, 107 S.W.3d at 581. Consistent with the
The Court has not previously concluded, and does not conclude today, that the Legislature’s decisions in the school-finance arena have been wise or desirable. All the Court concludes today is that they have not been so arbitrary and unreasonable as to fall below the minimum constitutional standards. The Court’s sole job — indeed, its constitutionally limited authority' — is to answer that question. Whether we believe the state should spend more or less on public education is irrelevant to the task before us. Whether we think the state should raise or lower accreditation standards, increase or decrease class sizes, or require more or less testing, is immaterial to thé decision the Constitution and our precedent permit us to make today. We may have our personal views on those issues, but when it comes to making those kinds of choices,
“ ... it shall be the duty of the Legislature ...”
Deciding to provide a “better” system, and how much “better” that system should be, requires a balancing of costs and benefits that the Constitution leaves solely to the Legislature. Our sole authority is to determine whether the Legislature’s decisions have been arbitrary and unreasonable, and for the reasons the Court explains, I agree they have not. For those who are disappointed, their remedy “lies in the Legislature and thus in the privilege and duty that all Texans have to elect the legislators who will implement the policy choices they desire.” Ante at 868.
. See Tex. Const, art. VII, § 1; id. art. VIII, § 1-e.
. Ante at 833-34.
. Economically disadvantaged students are those eligible to participate in the national free or reduced-price lunch program. See Tex Educ. Code § 5.001(4). For a household with four members, the qualifying annual income is $44,863 or less for 2015-2016 and $44,123 for 2014-2015. 80 Fed.Reg. 17,026, 17,027 (March 31, 2015); 79 Fed.Reg. 12,-466, 12,467 (March 5, 2014).
. Neeley v. W. Orange-Cove Consol. Indep. Sch. Dist., 176 S.W.3d 746, 784 (Tex.2005).
. Id. at 787.
. Ante at 845-46.
. Division of Research & Analysis, Tex. Educ. Agency. Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2014-15 (2016) (Doc. No. GE16 601 09), available as a PDF file through links on the agency's Enrollment Trends webpage, at . http://tea.texas.gov/acctres/enrolLindex.html.
. Id. at ix-x.
. Id. at 10, 20; Division of Research & Analysis, Texas Educ: Agency, Enrollment in Texas Public Schools 2013-14 at ix, 15, 20 (2014) (Doc. No. GE15 601 03), available as a PDF file at http://tea.texas.gov/acctres/enroll_ index.html; see also Steve Suitts, A New Majority Research Bulletin: Low Income Students Now a Majority in the Nation's Public Schools, Southern Education Foundation (2015), available as a PDF file athttp://www.southerneducation.org/ Our-Strategies/Research-and-Publications/ New-Majority-Diverse-Majority-Report- ' Series/A-New-Majority-2015-Update-Low-Income-Students-Now.
. Ante at 860.
. Neeley, 176 S.W.3d at 757; Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Kirby, 804 S.W.2d 491, 497 (Tex.1991).
. Division of Research & Analysis, Tex. Eddc. Agency, Secondary School Completion and Dropouts in Texas Public Schools 2012-13 at x (2014) (Doc. No. GE14 601 07) (“COMPLE
. Dropouts are also counted annually. Of the 2,189,442 students who attended seventh through twelfth grades during the 2012-2013 school year, 31,509 students dropped out of the ninth through twelfth grades, and another 3,187 students dropped out of the seventh and eighth grades. Id. at xiv.
. Grade 9 Longitudinal Graduation and Dropout Rates, Texas Public Schools, Class of 2013, Tex. Educ. Agency, https://rptsvrl.tea. texas.gov/acctres/completion/2013/state.html; see also Completion and Dropouts 2012-13 at xii.
. Grade 9 Longitudinal Graduation and Dropout Rates by Race/Ethnicity and Gender, Texas Public Schools, Class of 2013, Tex. Educ. Agency, https ://rptsvrl .tea.texas.gov/acctres/ completion/2013/state_ demo.html. Another 5.4% of economically disadvantaged students continued in school and another .9% received a GED. Id.
. Compare Grade 9 Four-Year Longitudinal Graduation and Dropout Rates, Texas Public Schools, Class of 2014, Tex. Educ. Agency, https://rptsvrl.tea.texas.gov/acctres/ completion/2 014/state_4yr.html, with Grade 9 Four-Year Longitudinal Graduation and Dropout Rates, by Race/Ethnicity, Economic Status, and Gender, Texas Public Schools, Class of 2014, Tex. Educ. Agency, https://rptsvrl.tea. texas.gov/acctres/completion/2014/state_ demo_4yr.html.
. The "2012-13 Federal Report Card” can be found on the TEA's website, at https:// rptsvrl.tea.texas.gov/-perfreport/frc/2013/ srch.html.
. The "2014-15 Federal Report Card” can be found through the TEA’s website at https:// rptsvrl.tea.texas.gov/-perfreport/frc/2015/ srch.html.
. See 2012-13 Federal Report Card.
. See 2014-15 Federal Report Card.
. Ante, at 867. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a congres-sionally-mandated project administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), with the Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences. Reading and mathematics test results for fourth and eighth graders, as well as various tools for viewing a state's profile, intra-state score changes, and standing relative to other states, are available for 2015 and several earlier years at http://www.nationsreportcard. gov/.
. The NCES provides a “State Profiles” online tool that can be used to generate a state’s test result history dating back to 1990, available at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ states/. An interactive "State Comparison” tool can be used to generate tables, by year, grade, and test subject, to obtain more data about scores across several categories of students. See Nat’l Ctr. for Educ. Statistics, NAEP State Comparisons, http://nces.ed.gov/ nationsreportcard/-statecomparisons.
. The "State Score Changes” comparison tool on the Nation’s Report Card webpage can be used to compare fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics and reading scores from 2015 to results from past years ranging back to 1990.
. See 2015 Mathematics and Reading Assessments; Reading; State Score Changes; State Score Change Map, The Nation's Report Card, an interactive tool available at http://www. nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_2015/-#reading/state/scores?grade=8. The tool provides a link to toggle between fourth- and eighth-grade results.
. A table showing this data for each year, subject, and grade can be generated with the NCES comparison tool available at http:// nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/state comparisons.
. Neeley, 176 S.W.3d at 790.
. See Neeley v. W. Orange-Cove Consol. Indep. Sch. Dist., 176 S.W.3d 746 (Tex.2005) (West Orange-Cove II ); W. Orange-Cove Consol. I.S.D. v. Alanis, 107 S.W.3d 558 (Tex.2003) (West Orange-Cove I ); Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Meno, 917 S.W.2d 717 (Tex.1995) (Edgewood IV ); Carrollton-Farmerś Branch Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist., 826 S.W.2d 489 (Tex.1992) (Edgewood III ); Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Kirby, 804 S.W.2d 491 (Tex.1991) (Edgewood II ); Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Kirby, 777 S.W.2d 391 (Tex.1989) (Edgewood I ).