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Oct 6, 2008 5:40 pm US/Central
Lawsuit Ties Up $1.35 Billion For New DISD Schools
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DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
The Dallas Independent School District's plan for
teacher layoffs and closing a multi-million dollar budget gap is just one finance challenge.
Another challenge is funding for new schools. Officials say $1.35 billion to build new schools is tied up in a court battle.
A group of African American
parents filed a discrimination suit against the district in July. They claim DISD discriminates in its' allocation of bond projects.
Because of that suit, the ability to issue and sell bonds that finance construction of new schools is on hold.
State Senator Royce West, attorney Ray Hutchison and other attorneys were in court Monday morning, representing the Dallas school district.
The economic ripple effect is to the point where the largest business coalition in Dallas is now in court, side by side with DISD.
The Dallas Citizen's Council and the Dallas Chamber of Commerce are fighting to free up those bonds for academic and economic reasons, according to Mike Baggett, the attorney for the chamber and the citizen's council.
"It creates jobs. It creates economic development. Long-term, when people look to where they're going to locate their business, if you have a good education system, it's very beneficial to the business climate and it will encourage jobs," said Baggett.
The people who filed the lawsuit say they want the money to be used in their schools and communities. They claim the heavy hitters in court only represent Dallas business interest
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