San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriquez Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. 1

Facts In 1968Mexican American parents of children who attended the elementary & secondary schools in the Edgewood Independent School District (San Antonio, Texas) filed suit attacking the Texas system of financing public education The suit was filed on behalf of poor children who reside in school districts having a low property tax base

Parents claimed that the Texas systems reliance on local property taxation favors the more affluent The system violates equal protection requirements because of substantial inter- district disparities in per-pupil expenditures due to the differences in the value of assessable property among the districts

District Court found that wealth is a suspect classification & education is a fundamental right -The financing system was subject to strict scrutiny. -the system could be upheld if the appellants showed that there was a compelling state interest for the system (appellants failed) -demonstrate a reasonable or rational basis for the states system The State appealed.

Issue Is high quality education a fundamental constitutional rightwhich was denied to Mexican-American children and others from low income families who were required to attend public schools with few resources & poor facilities?

Holding In a 5 to 4 decision, the US Supreme Court held that a school financing system, based on local property taxes was not an unconstitutional violation of the 14 th Amendments Equal Protection Clause. The system did not systematically discriminate against all poor people in Texas. The funding scheme was not so irrational as to be invidiously discriminating. The Equal Protection Clause does not require absolute equality or precisely equal advantages.

Legal Doctrine Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause

Significance Although the court was in favor of the State, the case prompted states to reform and equalize their school funding systems