The Law: Paying for Schools

Local property taxes are almost universally used in the U.S. to support public schools. The unsurprising result is that areas with high property values tend to have more money to spend on education than do poor areas. First the California Supreme Court and then a number of other courts found that this disparity was a denial of equal protection under the law. But last week, in admitted fear of what the principle would mean for other public services, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the current property-tax system does pass constitutional muster.

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