School finance expert Paul Colbert testified Monday as the third week of testimony began in the lawsuit joined by hundreds of Texas districts challenging the state’s share-the-wealth school finance system.

Testimony is scheduled to continue Tuesday.

Colbert discussed Monday how numbers were put together two decades ago based on the amount of money the Legislature had to work with at the time.

Colbert said, for example, the percentages used to compensate
for higher costs for bilingual students are a fraction of the
recommended costs.

Colbert says studies have been conducted repeatedly for the
Legislature, but the state ignored them and did not make changes.

The former lawmaker known as the "father of Robin
Hood" testified Friday there’s nothing inherently wrong with the
share-the-wealth school funding system as the second week of testimony ended in the trial of the school finance lawsuit joined by hundreds of school districts.

But former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff testified Texas has abdicated
its share of funding responsibility.

At issue in the trial is the state’s so-called Robin Hood school finance system, which caps the rates districts can tax property.

The districts contend the cap amounts to an unconstitutional statewide property tax that still denies enough money to educate Texas children equally.

The current funding plan depends on property taxes to pay for school maintenance and operations costs.

Money from property-wealthy districts helps fund poorer districts.

The trial could last more than a month and whatever the final ruling decision is expected to be appealed to a higher court.

The Legislature, meanwhile, has yet to agree on reworked school finance plan even though most lawmakers say they want a new system that's equitable for all districts.

Property tax relief is another issue.

A first special legislative session on the issue failed.

Gov. Rick Perry could call another special session or let lawmakers take up the issue in the 2005 regular session, which begins in January.

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