Texas Might Fight Ruling That States Must Educate All Children

Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas may fight a Supreme Court ruling mandating that public education for all children, including undocumented immigrants, be provided free by the states. Texas already sued the federal government over the cost of complying with the ruling, the Hill reports. That was a loss for the state, in the Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe. "I think we will resurrect that case and challenge this issue again, because the expenses are extraordinary and the times are different than when Plyler versus Doe was issued many decades ago," Abbott said.

Texas changed its laws in 1975 to keep children who were not "legally admitted" to the US out of its public schools and refuse funding for their education, per KHOU. The US Supreme Court voted 5-4 in 1982 that the law was unconstitutional. The ruling guaranteed all children, documented and undocumented, a free public education. Abbott made the comments Wednesday on "The Joe Pags Show," a radio program. (More Texas stories.)