Summary Of The Texas Supreme Court Case Edgewood ISD V. Kirby

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Demonstrated by the Texas Supreme Court case Edgewood ISD v. Kirby, the role of the people is to notice an issue in the Texas government and take action to make a change.
In 1989, the state of Texas funded public school districts throughout Texas with a system of property taxes from surrounding neighborhoods.
This was the cause of the Mexican Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) going to court against William Kirby, the commissioner of education (Acosta, 2010).
MALDEF claimed that this system of public education funding was discriminatory toward lower-income districts, including school districts with primarily Hispanic students, such as Edgewood ISD in San Antonio.
MALDEF cited that Edgewood ISD had around $39,000 in property wealth per …show more content…

Before this case study, taxpayers funded grade school education, but it was never established that education was a right for Texas Citizens.
Ultimately, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that funding individual public school districts by neighborhood property taxes was unequal, encouraging discrimination (MALDEF Lawsuit).
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that funding for public school districts would be reformed a new system of funding public school education would be implemented (Acosta, 2010).
This shows that after this case study, it was established that US Citizens have the right to a K-12 education, one that is equally funded so that all students are learning on a level playing field.
For this case study, the Texas Supreme Court established the right for students to receive a public school education

Texas citizens have the responsibility to take action against an issue they find unconstitutional, either by voting or joining an interest group.
The interest group MALDEF is an example of this responsibility by identifying the issue of unequal school funding, and taking the action by suing the commissioner of …show more content…

This interest group would not likely support a different approach to education finance because they don’t believe in large government involvement in education (About).

The role of the people regarding state elections is to vote for individuals they believe will represent them.
Back in 1989, Harley Clark was a state district judge that presided over Edgewood ISD v. Kirby
He was appointed state district judge by Governor Dolph Briscoe in 1977.
Clark issued the landmark decision that the state’s public school finance system was unconstitutional because of the disparity between wealthy and poor districts.
This shows the role of the people because he was appointed by the governor and was involved in a decision that affected many people.

The role of the people regarding local elections is to vote for individuals in their community that they believe will represent them.
The system of education financing back in 1989 greatly affected the public school district Edgewood ISD in San Antonio,