San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez

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San Antonio v. Rodriguez

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued October 12, 1972

Decided March 21, 1973

Full case name:	San Antonio Independent School District et al. v. Demetrio P. Rodriguez et al.
Citations:	411 U.S. 1; 93 S. Ct. 1278; 36 L. Ed. 2d 16
Prior history:	Judgment for plaintiffs, 337 F. Supp. 280 (W.D. Texas (1971)
Subsequent history:	Rehearing denied, 411 U.S. 959 (1973)

Holding

Reliance on property taxes to fund public schools does not violate the Equal Protection Clause even if it causes inter-district expenditure disparities. Absolute equality of education funding is not required and a state system that encourages local control over schools bears a rational relationship to a legitimate state interest. District Court of Texas reversed.

Court membership

Chief Justice: Warren Burger

Associate Justices: William Douglas, William Brennan, Potter Stewart, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Lewis F. Powell, William Rehnquist, Harry Blackmun

Case opinions

Majority by: Powell

Joined by: Burger, Stewart, Rehnquist, Blackmun

Dissent by: White

Joined by: Douglas, Brennan

Dissent by: Marshall

Joined by: Douglas

Dissent by: Brennan

Laws applied

U.S. Const. amend. XIV

San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1 (1973)^[1], was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States reversed a Texas three-judge District Court.

The Supreme Court's decision held that a school-financing system based on local property taxes was not an unconstitutional violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. The majority opinion stated that the appellees did not sufficiently prove that education is a fundamental right or that the financing system was subject to strict scrutiny.

The District Court had decided that education is a fundamental right and that the financing system was subject to strict scrutiny.