Supreme Court to Legislature: Fund schools, or else ...

Houstonist tried to think of an incredibly complicated allegory involving the Texas Legislature, school districts and homeowners to talk about yesterday's school finance ruling, but we realized our poorly funded public education means we don't know what an "allegory" is. So:

The state Supreme Court struck down a property tax associated with school funding, saying the tax is unconstitutional because it leaves school districts with no control over their tax rates. The Legislature decided years ago that property owners should shoulder most of the burden of the Texas educational system, so today property tax revenue makes up more than half the $32 billion it takes to run schools every year. Sixty-seven percent of school districts are forced to tax at or near the property-tax cap to keep their doors open — hence the "no control over their tax rates." Not to mention that property owners who have to pay the maximum rate are pissed.

This is the latest ruling in the debate over the "Robin Hood" funding system, which takes money from wealthy school districts and gives it to districts that need more. Naturally, the 134 districts that have to give up money have never liked that plan; the ones that get Robin Hood money love it. But Robin Hood isn't the problem, as the Supreme Court showed — the reason performance gaps among Texan school kids are widening is that the state isn't properly funding schools on a basic level. State funding is at 38 percent, a record low. Meanwhile:

It also noted that only about one-third of the districts with about a fifth of the student population exceed minimum accreditation standards, a marked declined from 2001, when more than 60 percent of districts exceeded the minimum standards.

The Supreme Court threatened that schools won't open next fall unless the Legislature comes up with a revised funding plan by June 1, which Houstonist feels is unnecessarily harsh — and probably untrue. We're continually amazed at government cutting funds, then wondering why underfunded programs don't flourish. Seems like that's a lesson legislators would have learned in their youths, before the school system went to pot.