San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez case brief

San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez case brief summary

411 U.S. 1 (1973)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendant State of Texas appealed a decision from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, which held the Texas school finance system unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, in plaintiff parents' class action on behalf of school children throughout Texas who were members of minority groups, or who were poor and resided in school districts having a low property tax base.

CASE FACTS
In a suit by plaintiff parents on behalf of school children throughout Texas who were members of minority groups, or who were poor and resided in school districts having a low property tax base, the lower court held that the Texas school finance system was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The lower court based its decision on the substantial inter-district disparities in school expenditures largely attributable to differences in the amounts of money collected through local property taxation.

DISCUSSION

• On appeal, the Supreme Court held that where wealth was involved, the Equal Protection Clause did not require absolute equality or precisely equal advantages. 
• The Court found that the Texas system did not operate to the peculiar disadvantage of any suspect class. 
• The Court rejected the lower court's finding that education was a fundamental right or liberty. 
• The strict scrutiny test was inappropriate and applied a standard of review that required only that the State's system be shown to bear some rational relationship to legitimate State purposes. 
• The Texas plan satisfied the standard, and thus, the Court reversed.

CONCLUSION

The Court reversed the decision of the lower court, which held that the Texas school finance system was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.