The map below shows school-funding court decisions by state.

Click on a state for education-finance litigation details, recent events, and links to useful resources.

 Click here to learn more about the history of school-funding court decisions.

Legal Right Recognized and Enforced

No Legally Enforceable Right

Legal Right Recognized but Not Yet Enforced

No Court Decision

The color codes on this map indicate whether a decision of the highest court in the state (or a non–appealed lower–court decision) has held that elementary and high school students have a legally enforceable right to “equity” or “adequacy” in school funding, under the state’s constitution. In some states, courts have held that such rights do exist, but the court has not yet enforced that right, either because a major case is currently still under consideration or because plaintiffs in past cases had not demonstrated to the court’s satisfaction that the rights have actually been violated.  By clicking on a particular state on the map, a reader can obtain detailed information about the litigation history and recent developments in that state, including “compliance” cases that have sought to enforce past judicial orders.