July 3, 2015 4:25 PM

Plaintiff ISDs try to knock off case intervenors, add Wallace Jefferson to legal team

Plaintiffs say of intervenors: “The Intervenors asked the trial court to ‘constitutionalize’ their preferred education policies – policies that have never attracted majority support in the Legislature.”

The Texas Supreme Court has put the school finance challenge on a fast track, scheduling oral arguments before the court on Sept. 1.

Most discussion of the timeline for a school finance case typically end with a joke about when a special session will occur. The court has no deadline for decisions, but in this case, if the school districts win, it could be next summer. That could put any new funding for public education in play before the 2016-17 school year.

“In 60 days, the future of millions of Texas children will be strictly in the hands of our Supreme Court justices,” said Wayne Pierce of the Equity Center, which is part of the Texas Taxpayer & Student Fairness Coalition. “We pray that will be foremost in their minds when they reach their decision.”

This timeline is ambitious on a number of grounds: First, this is the school finance case with the largest number of exhibits and plaintiffs in Texas history. Second, the plaintiff school districts filed their response yesterday, with the state’s final reply brief scheduled for August 11. And, third, the Fort Bend, et al, plaintiffs just added former Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson and his law partner at Alexander Dubose Jefferson Townsend to the mix.

By Kimberly Reeves