What are some recent changes to the system?

In recent years, there have been significant changes to the Texas school finance sytem. The most recent case, West Orange-Cove v. Neeley, began in 2001, when plaintiff school districts argued in district court that they were forced to tax at the maximum rate in order to educate students at the minimum level. Plaintiffs argued that local property taxes had effectively become a state property tax, because so many districts taxed at the limit just to provide essential services. In 2005, the Texas Supreme Court struck down the state school finance system because it relied on an unconstitutional state property tax. In response, the Texas Legislature was called into special session in 2006. The resulting legislation provided for a one-third reduction in rates so as to provide school district's meaningful discretion in setting tax rates. According to the Legislative Budget Board, the estimated cost of replacing local tax revenue with state funds will be about $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2007 and approximately $13.5 billion in fiscal 2008-09.