WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Call it Texas’ school finance trial, round 2.
State District Judge John Dietz begins hearing new testimony Tuesday in Austin nearly a year after declaring the Texas school finance system unconstitutional.
At issue this time is whether $3.4 billion in extra classroom funding approved by the Legislature last summer will alter his February 2013 finding.
Lawmakers also reduced from 15 to five the number of standardized tests high school students must pass to graduate.
Some 600-plus Texas school districts originally sued the state after 2011 after the Legislature cut $5.4 billion in public education funding.
Dietz wants evidence of how the changes affect his findings added to the court record for a Texas Supreme Court review when his ruling is appealed.