The San Antonio v. Rodriguez case challenged the use of local property taxes to fund school districts.
But a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 to uphold the funding structure has led to what many have called "discriminatory" and "fundamentally unfair."
On this "Texas Matters," we look at how this decision might have created a system of separate and unequal schools that, some argue, while not directly based on race, creates disparities along racial lines.
The non-profit journalism project Folo Media is investigating the issue. Folo Media journalist Matt Worthington joins us to discuss the history of San Antonio v. Rodriguez as well as its impact on school finance.
David Martin Davies can be reached at dmdavies@tpr.org or on Twitter @DavidMartinDavi