Associate Texas Education Commissioner Criss Cloudt took the stand for the state Thursday in Austin in
the trial of a lawsuit challenging the Texas school finance system.

Cloudt is the state's associate commissioner for accountability.

Cloudt said a higher dropout rate presented by the plaintiffs
says nothing about why students leave the system.

The dropout rate is one of the measures used in the
accountability rating system.

Earlier Thursday, attorneys for the state rehashed in
the evolution of the Texas education accountability system.

Testimony centered on the origins of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, the standardized test that's the cornerstone of the state's system for monitoring the educational quality of its public schools.

On Wednesday, a researcher defended a study that found that Texas spends more on average than is necessary to provide public school students with an adequate education as testimony continued Wednesday in a lawsuit challenging the state’s share-the-wealth school finance system.

Texas A&M Researcher Lori Taylor testified Wednesday as the trial of a lawsuit challenging the state’s so-called Robin Hood school finance system continued in Austin.

Taylor helped author a study that found that Texas spends per student on average that is necessary to provide an adequate education.

The Taylor study was commissioned by the state and was presented
to the Legislature in March as lawmakers prepared or a special
session on school finance.

The session ended in June without agreement on a new funding system.

The study, which has been revised, suggested it takes about
$6,400 annually per student to maintain a 55 percent
passing rate on the state's annual standardized test.

That's about $300 less than the average amount spent per
student in 2004.

Taylor spent Wednesday morning on the witness stand describing her research and analysis methods as the state continued to lay out its case.

The trial is in its fifth week.

Attorneys for the school districts challenging the system presented a series of witnesses over the first four weeks of the trial who described the impact on what the plaintiff’s say is an inequitable and unconstitutional means of funding schools.

Neeley initially said Texas made big strides in student
achievement amid population growth and difficult local decisions on
how to spend available money.

Under cross-examination, Neeley acknowledged telling the Midland
Reporter-Telegram that the state's share of public school funding
should move back toward 60 percent.

The level has dropped to 38 percent. The rest of the state-local
portion comes from local property taxes.

Hundreds of wealthy and poor Texas school districts sued the
state, contending the existing finance system is unconstitutional.

Their lawsuit argues Texas doesn't allocate enough money for
education.

Attorneys for the state contend that Texas meets the state
constitution's minimum requirements. They say any changes to the
system should be made by the Legislature, not the courts.

Judge John Dietz is expected to
rule late next week, but his ruling likely will be appealed.

Here are a few key numbers the lawyers will refer to during the trial:

Number of public school districts in Texas: 1,037.
Number of public school students in Texas: 4.3 million
Overall state and local portion Texas education budget: $28 billion
Percent from local property taxes: 62 percent
Percent of districts at the $1.50 property tax rate cap: 48 percent
Number of students educated in those at-the-cap districts: 2.3 million