The Texas Supreme Court ruled the state’s education finance system is constitutional May 13, overturning a 2014 decision by the Civil District Court that favored nearly 600 school districts across the state. The ruling was the seventh made by the court on the constitutionality of Texas’s education system since 1989. Justice Don Willett delivered the opinion for the court, calling the case the most far-reaching challenge in the state’s history. Fort Bend ISD was a plaintiff in the education funding lawsuit against the state, along with nearly 600 Texas school districts.[/caption] “Our Byzantine school funding ‘system’ is undeniably imperfect, with immense room for improvement,” the ruling said. “But it satisfies minimum constitutional requirements.” The unanimous decision validated the “recapture” or “Robin Hood” system in which property-rich districts are mandated by law to send a portion of their property tax revenue to the state to be redistributed among districts deemed property-poor. FBISD leaders expressed dismay over the decision, but said the district’s operating budget for the 2016-17 year would not be affected. “While it remains to be seen whether the legislature will address school finance in the 2017 Texas Legislative Session, we anticipate that lower projected revenues for the State will mean that other needs will be prioritized ahead of school finance improvements,” FBISD Superintendent Charles Dupre said in a blog on the district’s website. He said the district planned its 2016-17 budget for the possibility the court would rule in the state’s favor. The district is setting aside reserve funding to counteract a cut in state allocations, he said. “This means we will identify innovative ways to shift resources to support strategic priorities and to maintain competitive employee compensation,” Dupre said. The court’s ruling still called for improvement on the part of legislators. “Texas’s more than five million school children deserve better than serial litigation over an increasingly Daedalean ‘system,’” the ruling said. “They deserve transformational, top-to-bottom reforms that amount to more than Band-Aid on top of Band-Aid.” FBISD trustee Grayle James said she was surprised at the ruling and that she hoped the state would follow through on the court’s recommendations. “We’re disappointed because obviously we don’t feel that there is a good finance system in place,” she said. “[The state needs] to fully fund education.”