Lead Opinion
The issue in this case is whether a prior federal court judgment precludes a subsequent action in state court asserting state law claims omitted in the federal action. In particular, we must decide whether an independent school district is entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit in federal court such that the federal court would have lacked jurisdiction of the omitted state law claims. The court of appeals concluded that a school district is an arm of the state entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity.
Charles McKinney was fired from his job as a band teacher with the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD). McKinney, an African-American, contends that the termination was race-related. Consequently, he filed a race discrimination lawsuit in federal district court. While his federal lawsuit was pending, McKinney administratively appealed his termination to the Commissioner of Education of the Texas Education Agency, arguing that SAISD did not follow proper procedures in firing him. The Commissioner ruled in his favor, but the school district refused to reinstate McKinney.
While his administrative appeal was pending, McKinney told the federal court that he intended to amend his federal complaint “to present all his claims arising from the same facts and transactions ... once a final Agency ruling is obtained.” However, he never did so. The federal court eventually rendered a summary judgment against McKinney on his race discrimination claim.
McKinney then filed this suit against SAISD and its board of trustees in state court for breach of contract and to enforce the Commissioner’s reinstatement order. SAISD moved for summary judgment, pri
I
Because the first lawsuit at issue in this case was decided in federal court, federal law controls the determination of whether res judicata bars the present state court proceeding. Eagle Properties, Ltd. v. Scharbauer,
As framed by the parties, the dispositive question is whether the federal court lacked jurisdiction because of the Eleventh Amendment. There is no question that the federal court had supplemental jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1367.
II
The Eleventh Amendment limits the federal courts’ judicial power specified in Article III, Section 2 of the United States Constitution. It provides:
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
U.S. CONST, amend. XI. The Amendment by its terms does not bar suits against a state by its own citizens. However, the United States Supreme Court has consistently held that an unconsenting state is immune from suits brought in federal courts by her own citizens as well as by citizens of another state. Edelman v. Jordan,
By its terms, the protection afforded by the Eleventh Amendment is only available to “one of the United States.” Lake Country Estates, Inc. v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency,
Although the ultimate question of federal jurisdiction under the Eleventh Amendment is a federal constitutional question, state law informs the determination. Mt. Healthy City Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Doyle,
Ill
Education of our children is an essential Texas value. Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Meno,
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. The Texas Legislature has created a three tiered system for implementing its educational obligation. At the state level, we have the Texas Education Agency, headed by the Commissioner of Education, and the State Board of Education. Tex.Educ.Code §§ 7.001-.112. Regionally, the Legislature created Regional Education Service Centers. Id. §§ 8.001-.124. At the local level are independent school districts, which have been the “basis of the public school system of Texas from the days of the Republic.” Love v. City of Dallas,
The Legislature has given the Texas Education Agency and the State Board of Education only limited authority, specifically reserving for the school districts and their trustees and charter schools any educational function not delegated to the TEA or the Board. Tex.Eduo.Code §§ 7.003, 11.151(b). As a result, independent school districts have the “primary responsibility for implementing the [Sjtate’s system of public education and ensuring student performance in accordance with the code.” Id. § 11.002.
Under Texas law, independent school districts enjoy a large amount of political autonomy from the State, the TEA, and the Board. Each district is governed by a board of trustees elected by voters within a trustee district. Tex.Educ.Code §§ 11.051-063. District trustees are granted “the exclusive power and duty to govern and oversee the management of the public schools of the district.” Id. § 11.151(b). Trustees may adopt any rules or bylaws necessary to carry out their statutory powers and duties. Id. § 11.151(d). An independent school district has the power to levy and collect taxes and issue bonds. Id. §§ 11.152, 45.001-232. Independent school districts have the right, through their boards of trustees, to sue and be sued “in the name of the district.” Id. § 11.151(a). And they may acquire, hold, and sell real and personal property. Id. §§ 11.151-156. Importantly, neither the TEA nor the Board may substitute its judg
In addition, the Legislature has defined school districts as political subdivisions of the State, like cities and counties, for purposes of sovereign immunity. A “governmental unit” means:
(A) this state and all the several agencies of government that collectively constitute the government of this state, including other agencies bearing different designations, and all departments, bureaus, boards, commissions, offices, agencies, councils, and courts;
(B) a political subdivision of this state, including any city, county, school district, junior college district....
Tex.Civ.PRAC. & Rem.Code § 101.001(2)(A)-(B). The fact that a school district enjoys sovereign immunity does not mean that it is in effect the State for purposes of the Eleventh Amendment. Cities and counties enjoy sovereign immunity, City of Galveston v. Posnainsky,
On several occasions we have identified school districts as political entities distinct from the State. In Port Arthur Indep. Sch. Dist. v. City of Groves,
Although our independent school districts are creatures of the state and receive substantial funds for their operation from the state, they are independent political entities and we will not classify their property as state property.
Id. The Court went on to note that the Legislature had vested local school boards with broad powers, but had made no provision for regulating the construction or safety of school buildings. Id. As a political subdivision of the State, we held that the city’s police powers applied to independent school districts.
Earlier, in Love,
That Texas law defines independent school districts more like counties and cities than like an arm of the state does not end our inquiry. Eleventh Amendment immunity may extend to some state entities if a judgment against the entity would in effect be a judgment against the State. Edelman,
The Legislature has designed an elaborate funding system for Texas independent school districts. Tex.Educ.Codb Ann. §§ 41.001-45.232; see Edgewood IV,
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We hold that an independent school district is more like a city or county than it is like an arm of the State of Texas and is amenable to suit in federal court under the Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution. The members of independent school district’s board of trustees sued in their official capacities, likewise, are not protected by the Eleventh Amendment. Kentucky v. Graham,
Notes
. In any civil action in which the federal district courts have original jurisdiction, the district courts have supplemental jurisdiction over “all other claims that are so related to claims in the action within such original jurisdiction that they form a part of the same case or controversy under Article III of the United States Constitution." 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).
Concurrence Opinion
joined by Justice CORNYN, concurring.
In this cause, we consider whether Charles McKinney could have brought state-law claims against a Texas school district in an earlier federal lawsuit. I agree with Justice Gonzalez that San Antonio Independent School District, like every other independent school district in Texas, is an arm of the state, although I disagree with him as to the judgment that the Court should render in this ease. Because the district court in the earlier federal lawsuit would have been bound by precedent that would not afford Eleventh Amendment immunity to the district, I concur in the Court’s judgment. The majority’s lengthy analysis is, however, purely advisory.
At the time of McKinney’s federal lawsuit, the Fifth Circuit had already decided that Texas school districts are not entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity. See Lopez v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist.,
Although the majority acknowledges that Eleventh Amendment immunity is a question of federal law,
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
The Court holds that a federal court judgment on federal issues is res judicata, barring McKinney’s attempt to enforce a state administrative order in state court. I disagree. Under the Texas Constitution and our statutes, Texas school districts are arms of the state.
Eleventh Amendment jurisprudence is grounded in the concept that the constituent states of our union “maintain certain attributes of sovereignty, including sovereign immunity.” Hess v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp.,
Our Constitution charges the State Legislature with the responsibility for educating our children. Article VII, section 1 of the Texas Constitution commands state involvement in and funding of school districts: “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.”
In 1987, the Fifth Circuit held that Texas school districts were sufficiently distinct from the state to be outside of Eleventh Amendment protection. Lopez v. Houston Indep. Sch. Dist.,
Since 1987, the relationship between the State and the school districts has radically altered in response to our decision in Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Kirby, 777 S.W.2d 391 (1989). The Legislature’s response to our decision was to pass legislation which had the practical effect of converting school district ad valorem taxes into a state tax. See Carrollton-Farmers Branch Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist.,
When the federal court rendered the judgment at issue in this case on June 10, 1993, the Texas Legislature had just enacted Senate Bill 7. Act of May 28, 1993, 73rd Leg., R.S., ch 347, 1993 Tex.Gen.Laws 1479, discussed in Edgewood Ind. Sch. Dist. v. Meno,
Thus it can be seen that State funds are inextricably intertwined with local funds. Reviewing a similar system of school finance, the court in Belanger v. Madera Unified School Dist.,
The state sets a revenue limit for each school district based on average attendance, subtracts property tax revenues from that limit, and allocates the balance to the school district from the state school fund.
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*287 Under the centralized revenue limit system, the allocation of property tax revenue is hopelessly intertwined with the allocation of state funds, and any change in the allocation property tax revenue has a direct effect on the allocation of state funds.
Id. at 252.
Given this background, it strains credulity to argue that a money judgment against a district is not paid in whole or in part from state funds. I believe that our laws authorize school districts to take advantage of Eleventh Amendment immunity. The San Antonio Independent School District retains its immunity as an arm of the state for sovereign immunity and Texas Tort Claims Act purposes. I would hold that because of Eleventh Amendment immunity, the judgment in federal court on federal issues is not a bar when a plaintiff such as Charles McKinney seeks to enforce a state administrative order in state court. Therefore, I dissent.
. We have previously held that ‘‘[t]he school district’s rights [to tax], to the extent they exist, are derived solely from the statutes that the Legislature .may enact under the authority granted [by the Texas Constitution].” Edgewood Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Meno,
. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court has emphasized that the source of funding money judgments is a critical tool for evaluating Eleventh Amendment questions, it recently reiterated that immunity applies to suits seeking either monetary or nonmonetary relief. See Seminole Tribe v. Florida, - U. S. -, -,
.The Texas Education Code provides that "[i]t is the policy of this state that the provision of public education is a state responsibility and that a thorough and efficient system be provided and substantially financed through state revenue sources.” Tex.Educ.Code § 42.001.
