Placido Salazar

psalazar9@satx.rr.com
Celina Moreno
cmoreno@MALDEF.org
Dear TLECers and allies:
MALDEF and IDRA would like to invite you to a joint post-oral argument
briefing for members of TLEC and the Senate Hispanic Caucus/Mexican
American Legislative Caucus Latino Education Task Force. TLEC
organizations have done a great deal over the last legislative session to push
for comprehensive school finance reform. There will be a lot of media
attention on the issue after Tuesdays oral argument and some of your
organizations may receive media calls. We wanted to offer a de-brief of the
oral argument for those who cannot attend or watch livestream and also
briefly discuss strategies/next steps to capitalize on that attention. We will
hold the Telephonic Briefing for Allies on Sept. 1 after the argument at 3:30
p.m. The conference call number is 1-877-366-0711 and the passcode is
81177954#.
Thanks,
Celina
Cell: 617.388.3551
David Hinojosa
david.hinojosa@idra.org
Dear Fellow TLEC Members and Others:
This Tuesday, September 1, the Texas Supreme Court will hear oral
arguments in the largest school finance case in the states history, Texas
Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition vs. Williams. Over 500 school
districts enrolling three-fourths of Texas school children, as well as parents,
students, the Texas Charter School Association and others, sued the State
for failing to ensure a quality education for all students. (see attached ppt
slide for list of claims and parties) The hearing comes 369 days after the

Texas District Court ruled that the states funding system is constitutionally
inadequate, unsuitable and financially inefficient. Much is at stake as the
court decides whether or not to ensure that the state provides equal
educational opportunity not for just some, but for all, of its children.
The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. and is expected to run most of the
morning. The hearing will be streamed live at
http://www.texasbarcle.com/CLE/TSC.asp. MALDEFs Interim Regional
Counsel Marisa Bono will be presenting argument for the Edgewood ISD
Plaintiffs. The expected presentation of argument is as follows:
State: 45 minutes
Charter Schools: 10 minutes
Intervenors: 10 minutes
Fort Bend ISD Plaintiffs: 15 minutes
Calhoun County ISD Plaintiffs: 15 minutes
Edgewood ISD Plaintiffs: 15 minutes
Texas Taxpayer & Student Fairness Coalition: 15 minutes
State: 15 minutes for rebuttal
Intervenors: 5 minutes for rebuttal
Charter Schools: 5 minutes for rebuttal
A number of amicus briefs have been filed, including one by the national
Education Law Center (ELC) along with several Texas organizations in
support of low-income and English language learner students urging the
court to affirm the trial courts ruling. Joining ELC on the amicus brief were
the Center for Public Policy Priorities, Mexican American School Board
Members Association (MASBA), San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce, Texas Appleseed, Texas Association for Bilingual Education,
Texas HOPE, and Texas NAACP. See an overview of the brief and link to
the full text here: http://www.educationjustice.org/news/august-11-2015amici-urge-texas-supreme-court-to-affirm-states-school-funding-isunconstitutional.html

This and other amicus briefs, as well as the parties merits briefs filed in the
case, are available on the courts website:
http://www.search.txcourts.gov/Case.aspx?cn=14-0776&coa=cossup
IDRA has created a dashboard to collect news about the Texas school
finance trial for easy access for parents, school folk & communities. You
can see the latest news stories, live tweets, images, etc.
http://budurl.com/IDRAsfNews
We have some resources online that you are welcome to share during this
next week to help keep the issue of school finance equity visible and active.
Infographic on the Texas School Funding Equity, see IDRAs updated
graphic showing how some children are considered more valuable
than others in Texas. http://budurl.com/IDRAigGap14
Statement: Court Rules Again: Texas School Funding Must Serve All
Students Equitably, August 28, 2014 http://createsend.com/t/rCFAF512CC306508A2540EF23F30FEDED
Flier listing the 50 Most Memorable Quotes in School Finance,
compiled by IDRAs founder, Dr. Jos A. Crdenas, in 1994.
http://budurl.com/IDRA50list
Sincerely,

David Hinojosa
National Director of Policy
IDRA
*************************************************************************************
*****************************************
Christie L. Goodman, APR

Communications Manager
Intercultural Development Research Association
5815 Callaghan Road, Suite 101
San Antonio, Texas 78228
210.444.1710 ph. 210.444.1714 fax
christie.goodman@idra.org www.idra.org
Connect with us online!
Twitter: @IDRAedu
Facebook: facebook.com/IDRAed
LinkedIn: http://budurl.com/IDRALinkedIn
Check out IDRA Classnotes Podcasts at http://www.idra.org/Podcasts/
Also sign up to receive education news by email for occasional news
updates http://budurl.com/IDRAsubscribe
"Assuring educational opportunity for every child"
*************************************************************************************
*****************************************