Discussion: Alternatives to the Local Property Tax for Educational Finance

Dr. Hady's paper begins by noting why some practical alternatives to the local property tax may soon become very urgent in all parts of the United States. The California Supreme Court decision in the case of Serrano v. Priest, which Hady cites, constituted the first ruling by a major appellate court that disparities in the property tax bases of school districts render that tax invalid as a basis for financing public schools. The applicable constitutional provision is the “equal protection†clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and similar provisions of State constitutions. The fact that the United States Supreme Court is reviewing a decision of a three-judge Federal court of appeals in a Texas case, Rodriquez v. San Antonio Independent School District, rather than the California case may be of considerable importance to possible future changes in educational finance.