Many recent critical reforms in state school finance systems have been catalyzed by the courthouse, not the statehouse. Advocates for equity-focused school finance reforms often consider legal action as the best path to significant policy changes. This brief discusses state-level lawsuits on adequacy and equity grounds and their outcomes.

In "Vergara v. California" (2014), a trial-level court ruled that California laws governing teacher tenure and dismissal were unconstitutional. This study analyzes "Vergara" in light of the shifting use of the courts to promote equal educational opportunities and the changing power bases of educational interest groups,…

Adequate funding for the nation's schools to meet the call for higher student achievement has been a litigious issue. Spending on schools is a political choice. The choices made by state legislatures, in some cases, have failed to fund schools adequately and have incited school finance lawsuits in almost all states. These proceedings are generally…

A decades-long school funding revolution continues in the United States. The litigation sparked by the Supreme Court of California's 1971 decision in "Serrano v. Priest" continues to reshape the legal, political, and educational landscape in the United States, affecting the lives of children, parents, educators, and taxpayers throughout…