Texas lawmakers cut $5.4 billion from public schools nearly 18 months ago, and now districts are headed to court to argue that the resulting system is so inefficient and unfair that it violates the state constitution, the Associated Press reports. Simply restoring funding to levels prior to the 2011 legislative session won’t be enough to fix the fundamentally flawed way Texas funds its schools, lawyers for the districts say. They point out that the cuts have come even as the state requires schools to prepare students for standardized tests that are getting more difficult, and amid a statewide boom in the number of low-income students that are especially costly to educate. Putting the money back would make things easier, they say.
“That’s not all it’s about, but that would be a start,” said John Turner, an attorney representing about 60 of the school districts suing…