Schools Sue State Over Education Cuts

AUSTIN (AP) – Seven Texas school districts, including two in East Texas, have filed the first lawsuit against the state since lawmakers slashed $4 billion in public school funding over the summer. A coalition representing at least 150 school districts announced Tuesday that the lawsuit had been filed in Travis County. It asks the court to declare that the state’s school finance system violates the Texas Constitution. The lawsuit has been brewing for months. Facing a $27 billion state budget shortfall, the Republican-controlled Legislature in June approved the first decrease in per-student spending in Texas since World War II. The school districts selected to file the suit were Hillsboro, Hutto, Nacogdoches, Pflugerville, San Antonio, Taylor, and Van. Among the defendants named in the suit is Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott.