State Business Group Joining School Finance Lawsuit

The Texas Association of Business announced today that it will join a school finance lawsuit against the state, demanding a study of Texas school system efficiency.

“The Constitution of Texas calls for the state to provide an efficient public school system, and in our view, clearly the school system is not efficient,” said Bill Hammond, the organization's president. “Only two-thirds of ninth-graders graduate in four years, and, of those who graduate, only a quarter are what we call career- or college-ready.”

Hammond hopes the suit will encourage the Legislature or the appropriate agency to produce a study into how much it may cost to create a better school system — even if that may cost more than what is currently spent.

“I would not preclude [spending more on students],” Hammond said. “We need an honest broker to do the study on the true costs of educating a child. We’ll deal with the facts as they’re presented to us.”

TAB will be joining the fifth party to sign up for litigation against the state, a group made up of parents. Hammond noted that they are they only litigants in the lawsuit looking specifically into efficiency. 

Hammond made the announcement alongside former Supreme Court Justice Craig Enoch and Chris Diamond, both attorneys in the case, and former House Education Committee Chairman Kent Grusendorf, who heads the organization bringing the lawsuit. 

“There’s been a tremendous increase in spending and virtually no change with SAT scores, and in fact SAT scores have gone down,” Enoch said. “The purpose of our litigation is to put on the table the requirement that school districts, before they start arguing how much money they need, prove how much money it takes to educate a child.”

The business group frequently weighs in on education policy in the state: Today's announcement comes after a recent effort to urge the State Board of Education to improve the state's new math standards.

Hammond said the business community pays for roughly two-thirds of the education system in Texas and that it is the ultimate consumer — believing its goal for a better school system to be aligned with fellow litigants.

The lawsuit is set to go to court in October.

The Texas Association of Business is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune.