Texas will need to spend an additional $8 billion annually in order for its students to meet the state’s new college and career-readiness standards, school funding expert and educational consultant [1] Lynn Moak testified on Monday, the Huffington Post reports. Moak’s testimony to state District Judge John Dietz is part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by two-thirds of Texas public school districts that alleges the state’s current school finance system is unfair, inadequate and unconstitutional [2]. According to Moak, 47 percent of Texas’ ninth graders — about 150,000 — failed at least one of the state’s more rigorous standardized tests [3], known as STAAR [4], last school year, meaning they are not on track to graduate. That number is closer to 60 percent among low-income students, the Associated Press reports. In addition to restoring the $2.5 billion [5] lawmakers cut from Texas public schools [6] last year, Moak estimates an additional $6 billion is necessary to help students [7] — particularly low-income and English-language learners — catch up and ultimately pass, according to the Austin American-Statesman…