Superintendent Dr. Karen Garza Discusses LISD Funding Disparity Lawsuit [AUDIO]

On Wednesday's edition of Lubbock's First News, LISD Superintendent Dr. Karen Garza spoke with Tom Collins and Laura Mac about a funding disparity lawsuit recently filed by LISD.

The lawsuit, filed by the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition, began yesterday. Dr. Garza said that the state legislature has "dramatically" increased the expectation for the district, while at the same time dramatically reducing the amount of funding the district has received. But another big issue brought up by the lawsuit is the issue of equity.

"What they did last session is reduced our funding by five billion dollars, and...for Lubbock ISD, we believe it is a very inequitable system. We have school districts all across the state of Texas that will have anywhere from eleven thousand or more dollars per student more than Lubbock ISD receives. And the standards are the same for every child."

Garza also mentioned that the neighboring Lubbock Cooper ISD and Frenship ISD are both receiving more money than LISD, despite them being in the same district.

Garza also addressed the link between student performance and school funding. She said that, unfortunately, there was not a good way to link the two together.  She also responded to a listener question asking why LISD spending is increasing faster than the inflation rate, saying that was not actually the case.