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Demetrio Rodriguez sits in his San Antonio, Texas, home surrounded by memories. Certificates and photos chart the 25 years Rodriguez has spent fighting the cause of school finance reform. From state capitols to popular talk shows, he has become a strong voice behind the movement to improve the nation's schools.
Rodriguez began his fight for reform in 1969 as the chief plaintiff in a suit against the Edgewood Independent School District in San Antonio. In that year, he and a group of parents filed suit to protest the lack of funding for the schools their children attended.
Appealing the decision in favor of the district, they took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. In San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1 (1973), the court ruled in a 5-4 decision that education was not a fundamental right under the federal constitution and that students did not have the right to attend schools funded on the same level as a nearby wealthier district.
The case became a rallying point for school reform across the country. In the years following Rodriguez, parents and advocates have filed suit in over 30 states. Their battle cry is a simple one: The inequalities in funding between public school systems must be eliminated if quality education for all is to be guaranteed.
Gains have been made. Litigation in Rodriguez's home state of Texas prompted the creation of "Robin Hood" laws that reallocate funding from higher to lower income school districts. But change is hard to notice at the Edgewood school located across the street from Rodriguez's home.
"The kids who attend school in my district still have classrooms in portable buildings," he said. "Many times teachers are forced to buy crayons and other supplies out of their own pockets."
Rodriguez added that while conditions have changed, great disparities still exist. "These kids have an improved opportunity to get a proper education, but we have a long way to go."
Currently in the state of Texas a $20,000 gap exists in the amount of funding per classroom between the richest and poorest school districts. The Robin Hood laws, which have helped create some gains, are now threatened with elimination by a tax bill being considered in the...