Mike Morath, Commissioner of Education, in His Official Capacity Glenn Hegar, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, in His Official Capacity The Texas State Board of Education And the Texas Education Agency v. the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition Calhoun County Isd Edgewood Isd Fort Bend Isd Texas Charter School Association And Joyce Coleman

delivered the opinion of the Court.

For the seventh time since the late-1980s, we are called upon to assess the constitutionality of the Texas school finance system, a recondite scheme for which the word “Byzantine” seems generous.

In this round, more than half of the State’s 1,000-plus school districts have brought the most far-reaching funding-challenge in Texas history. We are presented with a court reporter’s record exceeding 200,000 pages and a trial court judgment accompanied by 1,508 findings of fact and 118 conclusions of law. Dozens of briefs, many filed by new parties raising new claims, frame the intricate arguments now before us. The depth and breadth of Texans’ attention is understandable — and also commendable: Good education is good policy.

But our judicial responsibility is not to second-guess or micromanage Texas education policy or to issue edicts from on high increasing financial inputs in hopes of increasing educational outputs. There doubtless exist innovative reform measures to make Texas schools more accountable and efficient, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Judicial review, 'however, does not licence second-guessing the political branches’ policy choices, or substituting the wisdom of nine judges for that of 181 lawmakers. Our role is much more limited, as is our holding: Despite the imperfections of the current school funding regime, it meets minimum constitutional requirements.

Imperfection, however, does not mean imperfectible. Texas’s more than five million school children deserve better than *834serial litigation over an increasingly Dae-dalean “system.” They deserve transformational, top-to-bottom reforms that amount to more than Band-Aid on top of Band-Aid. They deserve a revamped, nonsclerotic system fit for the 21st century.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

A. Overview of the Texas Public School System

1. The Public Education System

The Legislature has enacted numerous statutes articulating its goals for Texas schools. Among those statutes, section 4.001(a) of the Education Code1 provides:

The mission of the public education system of this state is to ensure that all Texas children have access to a quality education that enables them to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the future in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of our state and nation. That mission is grounded on the conviction that a general diffusion of knowledge is essential for the welfare of this state and for the preservation of the liberties and rights of citizens. It is further grounded on the conviction that a successful public education system is directly related to a strong, dedicated, and supportive family and that parental involvement in the school is essential for the maximum educational achievement of a child.

Subtitle F of the Education Code sets out provisions for curriculum, programs, and services. Section 28.001 of the subtitle2 states:

It is the intent of the legislature that the essential knowledge and skills developed by the State Board of Education under this subchapter shall require all students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to read, write, compute, problem solve, think critically, apply technology, and communicate across all subject areas. The essential knowledge and skills shall also prepare and enable all students to continue to learn in postsec-ondary educational, training, or employment settings.

In Neely v. West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District (WOC II), we noted that the Texas school system has “four integrated components: a state curriculum, a standardized test to measure how well the curriculum is being taught, accreditation standards to hold schools accountable for their performance, and sanctions and remedial measures for students, schools, and districts to ensure that accreditation standards are met.”3

As part of that system, the Education Code requires school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to offer both a foundation curriculum and an enrichment curriculum. A foundation curriculum consists of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.4 An enrichment curriculum consists of languages other than English to the extent possible, health, physical education, fine arts, career and technology education, technology applications, religious literature, and personal financial literacy.5 Alongside these requirements, Texas law establishes bilin*835gual education programs with the goal of “providing a full opportunity for all students to become competent in speaking, reading, writing, and comprehending the English language.”6

Establishing the required curriculum is a significant undertaking. The State Board of Education (SBOE)7 is required to “identify the essential knowledge and skills of each subject of the required curriculum that all students should be able to demonstrate.” 8 To that end, as we discussed in WOC II, the SBOE adopted the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum.9

In 2006, the Legislature required the SBOE to incorporate college readiness standards into the TEKS curriculum.10 The Legislature has defined college readiness as “the level of preparation a student must attain in English language arts and mathematics courses to enroll and succeed, without remediation, in an entry-level general education course for credit in that same content area for a baccalaureate degree or associate degree program.”11 Adoption of these standards has been a laborious process that continues today, involving “the direct input of educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and employers,”12 followed by public hearings and comments.

As we explained in WOC II, “[t]o correspond to curriculum changes, the Legislature required the development of a new state standardized test-the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (‘TAKS’) test — to replace the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (‘TAAS’) test.”13 The TAKS test was harder than the TAAS test and covered more subjects.14 Since WOC II, the incorporation of college-readiness standards into the TEKS curriculum led to a new test, the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test.15 The STAAR testing program is directed at postsecondary readiness. The record is clear that the STAAR test is significantly more difficult than the TAKS test.

Beginning with the 2011-12 school year, the STAAR test was gradually introduced, beginning with Grade 9. The 2014-15 school year was the first in which all high school students took the test. High school students currently must pass five STAAR end-of-course exams in order to graduate: Algebra I, Biology, English I, English II, and United States History.16

The Commissioner of Education (Commissioner)17 sets three performance levels for the STAAR testing program: Level I (unsatisfactory), Level II (satisfactory), and Level III (advanced). Level II was chosen as the college readiness standard. As we noted in WOC II, passing or “cut” scores on the TAKS test, were gradually increased “to give teachers and students *836time to adjust to the more difficult test.”18 Similarly, Level II “phase-in” scores were set for STAAR testing. Standards on the STAAR test are currently set to increase, over three stages, to the final Level II standard in the 2021-22 school year.

In addition to the STAAR testing program, student performance is measured by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests. These tests are administered every two years in math and reading to students in Grades 4 and 8.

Under the system’s accountability regime, the Commissioner adopts rules for evaluating the performance of school districts, campuses, and charter schools.19 Performance ratings are based in part on the school’s or district’s performance on the STAAR tests, dropout rates, and graduation rates.20 Ratings of “Met Standard” (or “Met Alternative Standard” for alternative education campuses and districts) and “Improvement Required” are assigned. The TEA plans to raise performance standards over time.

Each school district must maintain accreditation status. The Commissioner determines accreditation based in part on student achievement indicators (such as testing performance, dropout rates, and graduation rates) and performance under the system’s financial accountability rating system.21 The consequences of a school district losing its accreditation status are substantial. The non-aceredited district may not receive state funding or hold itself out as operating a public school.22 The Commissioner may also pursue various interventions and sanctions against a district or charter school that does not meet accreditation standards, including appointing a monitor, conservator, or management team for the district, closing the district or school, or annexing it to another district.23 The Commissioner can also invoke interventions and sanctions against individual schools within a district.24

2. The School Finance System

Since WOC II, the basic structure for funding the public schools has remained in place, with a few notable changes. Local, state, and federal funds are provided. Local property taxes include an M & O tax, for maintenance and operations, and a facilities tax, referred to as I & S, for “interest and sinking fund.” At the time WOC II was decided, the M & O tax rate was capped at $1.50 per $100 in property value.25

The Foundation School Program (FSP), set out in chapter 42 of the Education Code, is the primary source of funding. The FSP functions to guarantee that each district has “adequate resources to provide each eligible student a basic instructional program and facilities suitable to the student’s educational needs.”26 The FSP consists of two tiers.27 In 2006, the Legislature adopted a “compressed” M & O tax rate that lowered district tax rates by one third.28 The State says the tax compression was in response to WOC II ⅛ holding *837that the system imposed an unconstitutional statewide property tax. The Plaintiffs say the Legislature’s intent was to cut property taxes. Maybe both are true. In any event, a district taxing at the maximum rate of $1.50 saw its rate lowered to $1.00. The Legislature set a new cap of $1.17 for most districts.29 A district that wishes to tax at a tax rate over the “rollback tax rate” of $1.04 must hold a tax rollback election (TRE), also known as a tax ratification election, to approve the rate.30

From 2009 to 2013, for districts taxing at $1.00 or above, the State provided a Tier I basic allotment of $4,765 per student.31 This figure was then adjusted by a cost of education index (CEI) adjustment that accounts for “geographic variation” and “costs of education due to factors beyond the control of the school district,” such as district size, teacher salary variations, and the number of low-income students.32 The basic allotment is also adjusted by a “small and mid-sized district adjustment” recognizing diseconomies of scale for smaller districts, and a “sparsity adjustment” recognizing additional costs (such as additional transportation costs) associated with sparsely populated districts.33 These adjustments result in the district’s adjusted basic allotment.34 The TEA then multiplies the adjusted basic allotment by the district’s average daily attendance (ADA) to determine the district’s “regular program allotment.”35 ADA is the average daily number of students in attendance for the school year.

Tier I funding also includes “special allotments” for certain students, including economically disadvantaged, bilingual, gifted and talented, and special education students, and students requiring transportation.36 This additional funding is provided by multiplying an adjustment factor by the number of students falling into these categories. In today’s case, the adjustment factors for economically disadvantaged and bilingual students are especially important. The adjustment factor for economically disadvantaged students is .2;37 the factor for bilingual students is .l.38 The total of all special allotments plus the regular program allotment is the amount of Tier I funding.

A school district’s Tier I funding is provided by local property taxes and state funds. The district provides funding equal to the product of its compressed tax rate and its property values for the prior year.39 The State then pays the difference between the district’s portion and the total Tier I allotment.40

The system also provides for Tier II funding, which allows districts to obtain *838additional funding by adopting a tax rate between the compressed rate and $1.17.41 Tier II funding is based on the number of students in “weighted average daily attendance” or WADA. A district’s WADA is the sum of its students’ basic allotments plus some special allotments divided by the basic allotment.42 The weighting effect of WADA is to inflate the number of a district’s students in order to account for the needs of students whose education may require more funding.

Tier II funding consists of “golden pennies” and “copper pennies.” Golden pennies are the first six pennies above the district’s compressed rate, and are guaranteed to yield at least the same as Austin ISD’s tax revenue per weighted student per cent of tax effort, which was $59.97 in 2010 and has since been increased to $61.86 for fiscal year 2015, $74.28 for fiscal year 2016, and $77.53 for fiscal year 2017.43 Copper pennies are pennies for the tax rate between the golden-penny range and $1.17, and are guaranteed to yield $31.95 per weighted student.44

Recapture, the “Robin Hood” feature first analyzed in Edgewood Independent School District v. Meno (Edgewood IV),45 remains in place, although it has become more complex. The options available to wealthy districts are essentially the same as those described in Edgewood IV: Districts with property wealth exceeding the statutory limit can consolidate with another district, detach property, purchase average daily attendánce credits (the recapture option), contract for the education of nonresidents, or consolidate their tax base with another district.46 Recapture depends on the tax rate.47 For M & O tax pennies up to a district’s compressed rate, the district is subject to recapture if property wealth per weighted student exceeds certain levels, $476,500 in 2012-13 and $495,000 in 2013-14.48 There is no recapture for golden pennies, hence one reason for their name. For copper pennies, recapture applies to districts with property wealth per weighted student greater than $319,500.49

An alternative to funding “on formula” is known as “target revenue.” Target revenue, described as a “hold harmless” system, is intended to blunt the short-term effects of tax compression. Target revenue is based on certain hold harmless rules and applies if the target revenue amount exceeds the amount the district receives under the provisions described above.50 The State makes up the difference with Additional State Aid for Tax Reduction (ASATR). ASATR is presently only about 1% of total FSP funding, and is set to expire in 2017.

Facilities funding has remained largely unchanged since WOC II. With voter approval, districts may issue bonds for facility construction and renovation, and levy an I & S tax to meet debt-service require*839ments.51 Before a district may issue such bonds it must demonstrate to the Attorney General that it can cover debt service with a tax rate not to exceed 50 cents per $100 valuation.52 The FSP has two programs respecting facilities funding. First, the Instructional Facilities Allotment (IFA) guarantees a yield of $35 per student per penny of tax effort.53 Eligible districts must apply for funding, with low-wealth districts receiving priority, but the Legislature did not appropriate any funding for new IFA grants in 2011 or 2013.54 Second, the Existing Debt Allotment (EDA) guarantees $35 per student for the first 29 cents of tax 'effort needed to make bond payments.55

In 2011, the State cut education funding. According to the State, these cuts were the result of an economic downturn combined with a loss of temporary federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Some Plaintiffs suggest the cuts were not the result of an economic downturn, pointing out that the State ran surpluses in 2010-11 and 2012-13 and that the Legislature left its Rainy Day Fund untouched. The underlying reasons for the cuts are debatable, but the amounts of the cuts are not. The Legislature cut FSP funding by $4 billion for the biennium. The Legislature also cut funding for special programs and grants by $1.3 billion. However, the 83rd Legislature restored some of this lost funding in 2013, adding $3.4 billion in FSP funding and another $2.2 billion to adjust for enrollment growth. It brought back $290 million in funding for special programs and grants. The FSP basic allotment was increased to $4,950 for the 2013-14 school year, and $5,040 for the 2014-15 year. The 84th Legislature has funded an additional estimated $1.5 billion to the FSP and added $118 million in new funding for pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs.

B. The Pending Suit

In this case, various entities and individuals sued the State for constitutional violations regarding the school system. School districts comprise the largest group of plaintiffs. The school district Plaintiffs (the ISDs or ISD Plaintiffs) include the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition (TTSFC) Plaintiffs,56 the Calhoun County ISD (CCISD) Plaintiffs,57 the Edgewood ISD Plaintiffs,58 and the Fort Bend ISD Plaintiffs.59 The ISD Plaintiffs *840alleged the current school finance system violates the adequacy and suitability requirements of article VII, section 1 of the Texas Constitution. They also alleged the system imposes a statewide ad valorem tax in violation of article VIII, section 1-e of the Texas Constitution. With the exception of CCISD, the ISD Plaintiffs also alleged that the system violates the financial efficiency requirement of article VII, section 1. CCISD, a group of property-wealthy districts, sided with the State on this issue.60

Another group of plaintiffs, the Charter School Plaintiffs,61 consists of the Texas Charter School Association and parents of charter school students. The Charter School Plaintiffs claimed the financing system for charter schools violates the adequacy, suitability, and efficiency requirements of article VII, section 1. Their case was consolidated with the related claims filed by the ISDs.

Finally, other parties intervened, alleging the system is unconstitutional under the “qualitative efficiency” requirement of article VII, section l.62 Although the In-tervenors 63 also alleged the system imposes a statewide ad valorem tax in violation of article VIII, section 1-e, they were largely adverse to the ISD Plaintiffs. To the Intervenors, the flaw in the system is not inadequate funding but wasteful spending resulting from inefficient rules and policies.

The trial court conducted a bench trial beginning in October 2012 and ending in February 2013. It reopened the case and took additional evidence in January and February 2014 to consider the impact of 2013 legislation passed by the 83rd Legis*841lature. In August 2014, the court rendered a final judgment declaring the school system constitutionally inadequate, unsuitable, and financially inefficient under article VII, section 1, and unconstitutional as a statewide ad valorem tax prohibited by article VIII, section 1-e. The court also declared the system did not meet constitutional adequacy and suitability requirements for two subgroups of students: English language learner (ELL) and economically disadvantaged students.64 The Education Code defines an ELL student as “a student whose primary language is other than English and whose English language skills are such that the student has difficulty performing ordinary classwork in English.”65 Consistent with section 42.152 of the Education Code, the trial court defined economically disadvantaged students as those eligible for free or reduced-price lunches under the national school lunch program.66 The trial court found that as of the 2012-13 school year, over 60% of Texas’ public school students were economically disadvantaged students and 17% were ELL students.67

The trial court ruled in favor of the Charter School Plaintiffs in holding that funding for charter schools was based on average funding of school districts and was therefore constitutionally inadequate. But the court denied the Charter School Plaintiffs’ separate adequacy, suitability, and efficiency claims that as applied to charter schools specifically the system violated article VII, section l’s requirements. The trial court denied the Intervenors’ claim that the system violated article VII, section 1 on “qualitative efficiency” grounds.

The court signed extensive findings of fact (FOFs) and conclusions of law (COLs) running 364 pages.68 The trial court’s judgment and an executive summary set out in abbreviated form the court’s findings and conclusions. The court enjoined the State from “giving any force and effect to the sections of the Education Code relating to the financing of public school education (Chapters 41 and 42 of the Education Code) and from distributing any money under the current Texas school financing system until the constitutional violations are remedied.”69

The court also granted attorney fees to the ISD Plaintiffs. It denied fee requests filed by the State, Charter School Plaintiffs, and Intervenors. And it retained “continuing jurisdiction” over the case until the State has “fully and properly complied with its judgment and orders.”70

A direct appeal to this Court followed.71

II. Review of the Trial Court’s Decision

A. The Two Key Constitutional Provisions

The trial court held the school system unconstitutional under two provisions.

Article VII, section 1 states:

A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liber*842ties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.

Article VIII, section 1-e states:

No State ad valorem taxes shall, be levied upon any property within this State.

B. Summary of Our Prior School Finance Decisions

Our analysis depends heavily on our pri- or school finance cases, which comprise a unique body of Texas jurisprudence. Indeed, we have recognized that adherence to our prior decisions is particularly appropriate in this area of the law.72

Here is a chart illustrating the inter-branch conversation, followed below by a summary of the cases:

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We begin with Edgewood 1.73 There, the Court held the school finance system unconstitutional under the “efficiency” element of article VII, section 1. The basis of this holding was wide disparities in property wealth, tax rates, and spending per student, perhaps most memorably a 700 to 1 ratio between the property wealth per student in the richest and poorest school districts.74 The Court adopted a standard of “financial efficiency” under article VII, section 1 that has been followed since:

Efficiency does not require a per capita distribution, but it also does not allow concentration of resources in property-rich districts that are taxing low when property-poor districts that are taxing high cannot generate sufficient revenues to meet even minimum standards. There must be a direct and close correlation between a district’s tax effort and the educational resources available to it; in other words, districts must have substantially equal access to similar revenues per pupil at similar levels of tax effort.75

*843At the time, the State provided funding under the Foundation School Program (FSP), which continues to this day and distributes money to districts under a complex formula, partly in an effort to equalize funding. But the system at the time did not have the recapture mechanism now in place to further equalize funding.

In Edgewood II,76 the Court addressed the school finance system following the 1990 enactment of Senate Bill 1, the Legislature’s response to Edgewood I. SB 1 left intact the FSP, but created two tiers that remain in place today. Tier 1 was designed to provide guaranteed funding for basic education to all districts that taxed at or above a minimum level. Tier 2 funding guaranteed a certain level of funding for each cent of local tax effort above the Tier 1 minimum level. However, SB 1 excluded the wealthiest 5% of school districts. The Court held this exclusion rendered the system unconstitutionally inefficient:

Most property owners must bear a heavier tax burden to provide a less expensive education for students in their districts, while property owners in a few districts bear a much lighter burden to provide more funds for their students. Thus, Senate Bill 1 fails to provide “a direct and close correlation between a district’s tax effort and the educational resources available to it.” To be efficient, a funding system that is so dependent on local ad valorem property taxes must draw revenue from all property at a substantially similar rate.77

On rehearing, the Court clarified that school districts in an efficient system are permitted to “generate and spend local taxes to enrich or supplement an efficient system.”78 In other words, once an efficient system produces a general diffusion of knowledge, districts can choose to tax and spend additional sums for enrichment or supplementation purposes.

In Edgewood III, 79 the Court addressed the system following the 1991 enactment of Senate Bill 351, a legislative attempt to cure the constitutional infirmities recognized in Edgewood II. SB 351 created 188 county education districts (CEDs), whose “sole function is to levy, collect, and distribute property taxes as directed by the Legislature.”80 The Court held the CED system violated article VIII, section 1-e by creating a statewide ad valorem tax. The CED system created such a tax because “the very purpose of the CEDs is to levy a uniform tax statewide.” 81 “If the State mandates that- a tax be levied, sets the rate, and prescribes the distribution of the proceeds, the tax is a state tax, regardless of the instrumentality which the State may choose to use.”82 Edgewood III held:

An ad valorem tax is a state tax when it is imposed directly by the State or when the State so completely controls the levy, assessment and disbursement of revenue, either directly or indirectly, that the authority employed is without meaningful discretion.83

*844In Edgewood IV,84 the Court addressed the constitutionality, of Senate Bill 7, enacted in 1993 in response to Edgewood III. SB 7 retained the two-tier system. Tier l’s purpose was to provide a basic program meeting all legal standards, while Tier 2 provided additional funding for enrichment and facilities under a guaranteed yield system. Subject to exceptions for debt repayment, SB 7 capped combined Tier 1 and Tier 2 tax rates at $1.50. A new feature was a cap on taxable property above $280,000 per student. If a district’s property wealth exceeded that amount, the district could consolidate with another district, detach property, consolidate its tax base, contract for education of nonresi- . dents, or purchase “average daily attendance credits.” The last option was the one used by almost all districts whose property wealth exceeded the cap, requiring a pay- , ment to the State that was redistributed to poorer districts, the original recapture or “Robin Hood” mechanism.85 The Court rejected all constitutional challenges. It held the system met the financial efficiency requirement of article VII, section 1. It noted the 700 to 1 ratio of wealth per student found in Edgewood I had been reduced to 28 to 1, with further reductions under Tier 2.86 Although it did not analyze “adequacy” using that term, it concluded the system’s accountability regime met “the Legislature’s constitutional obligation to provide for a general diffusion of knowledge.”87

In Edgewood IV, the Court also rejected the wealthy districts’ argument that SB 7 unconstitutionally imposed a statewide ad valorem tax. The Court held that although the statute set maximum and minimum tax rates, and provided financial incentives for -districts to tax at maximum rates, enough discretion remained in the system to distinguish it from a statewide property tax. But the Court warned:

Eventually, some districts may be forced to tax at a maximum allowable rate just to provide a general diffusion of knowledge: If a cap on tax rates were to become in effect a floor as well as a ceiling, the conclusion that the Legislature had set a statewide ad valorem tax would appear to be unavoidable because the districts would then have lost all meaningful discretion in setting the rate.88

In WOC 1,89 the Court addressed arguments that the system had indeed come to impose a statewide property tax. The trial court had dismissed a statewide property tax claim on the pleadings, concluding that the claim was not viable unless “something approaching or exceeding half the districts” in the State were required to tax at the $1.50 cap to provide an accredited education.90 We adhered to the Edgewood III test for a statewide ad valorem tax: “An ad valorem tax is a state tax when it is imposed directly by the State or when the State so completely controls the levy, assessment and disbursement of revenue, either directly or indirectly, that the authority employed is without meaningful discretion.”91 We held that because the Constitution prohibits such a tax on “any *845property within the State,” it did not matter whether such a tax was imposed on all or most districts, or even a single district. Thus, the plaintiffs had stated a claim if they alleged that they had no meaningful discretion in setting tax rates because they were forced to tax at or near the $1.50 cap to provide a general diffusion of knowledge.92

Finally, in the most recent school finance case, WOC 17,93 the Court again addressed challenges to the school finance system under SB 7. It rejected the State’s standing and justiciability arguments.94 Synthesizing our prior caselaw, WOC II explained that article VII, section 1 sets out three standards: efficiency, adequacy, and suitability.95 Efficiency consists of both a “qualitative” component and a “quantitative” component, the latter also referred to as “financial efficiency.”96 The Court held that the system met the adequacy requirement for providing a general diffusion of knowledge, and that the system was also constitutionally efficient and suitable. But we acknowledged substantial evidence “that the public education system has reached the point where continued improvement will not be possible without significant change,” and that “it remains to be seen whether the system’s predicted drift toward constitutional inadequacy will be avoided by legislative reaction to widespread calls for changes.”97 And the Court again held the system imposed a statewide property tax in violation of article VII, section 1-e.98 As in prior cases, the Court focused on whether districts had meaningful discretion in setting rates and whether the legislatively imposed $1.50 cap had become “a floor as well as a ceiling.”99

In sum, the Court has twice held, in Edgewood I and Edgewood II, that the school finance system was unconstitutional under article VII, section 1 because it was financially inefficient. It has twice held, in Edgewood III and WOC II, that the system was unconstitutional under article VIII, section 1-e because it imposed a statewide ad valorem tax. The Court has never held the system constitutionally inadequate, unsuitable, or “qualitatively” inefficient under article VII, section 1.

C. Standards of Review

Philosophical views and emotions run deep on the subject of school funding in this State, as indicated by the large number of parties and amici curiae' and the content of their briefing. We embrace this input because all Texans, judges included, desire an efficient school system that cultivates and maximizes student achievement.100 But this Court must always be mindful of its limited constitutional role in this controversy. Our role is consequential yet confined, strictly circumscribed by a deferential standard of review, as well as *846our own prior decisions in this unique area of the law.

In this direct appeal, we have no jurisdiction “over any question of fact,” 101 and must “rely entirely on the district court’s findings.”102 But in deciding the constitutional issues, “those findings have a limited role.”103 Whether the public school system is constitutional is ultimately a question of law.104 And under our settled precedent, which frowns upon judicial second-guessing of policy choices, we presume the system is constitutional.105

In. WOC II, we recognized an arbitrariness standard for challenges under article VII, section l.106 Under this “very deferential” standard,107 we must not substitute our policy preferences for the Legislature’s, but “must on the other hand examine the Legislature’s choices carefully to determine whether those choices meet the requirements of the Constitution.”108 “If the Legislature’s choices are informed by guiding rules and principles properly related to public educatiori — that is, if the choices are not arbitrary — then the system does not violate the constitutional provision.” 109 At bottom, the “crux” of this standard is “reasonableness,” and the lens through which we view these challenges maintains a default position of deference to the Legislature — that political branch responsible for establishing a constitutionally compliant system.110

D. Justiciability, Standing, and Ripeness

The State argues we should not reach the merits of the Plaintiffs’ claims but should instead dismiss the case for various jurisdictional reasons. We reject these arguments.

The State primarily invokes the political-question doctrine, arguing the claims under article VII, section 1 involve policy-making reserved to the Legislature and are nonjusticiable political questions. The State says there are no judicially manageable methods for assessing the constitutionality of the state educational system, and there is no practicable basis for assessing the “reasonableness” of such a complex system.

We rejected this argument in Edgewood I, and do so again today. We explained that the Constitution imposes standards that are not committed unconditionally to the Legislature, but are instead subject to judicial review.111 Although the “imprecise” language • of Article VII, section 1 necessarily grants the Legislature great discretion to determine what constitutes “suitable provision” for an “efficient system” to provide a “general diffusion of knowledge,” it is not inherently the Legislature’s role to define and interpret the Constitution. To the contrary, as we have *847explained throughout our school finance cases, courts have the ultimate authority to determine whether the Legislature’s interpretation of these terms is arbitrary or unreasonable and, therefore, unconstitutional. In Edgewood I, for example, we explained that the terms used in article VII, section 1 “provide a standard by which this court must, when called upon to do so, measure the constitutionality of the legislature’s actions.”112 Similarly, in WOC I, we affirmed that the “final authority to determine adherence to the Constitution resides with the Judiciary,” and although “the Legislature has the sole right to decide how to meet the standards set by the people in article VII, section 1, ... the Judiciary has the final authority to determine whether they have been met.”113 And in WOC II, we made clear that “the Constitution nowhere suggests that the Legislature is to be the final authority on whether it has discharged its constitutional obligation.”114 “If the framers had intended the Legislature’s discretion to be absolute, they need not have mandated that the public education system be efficient and suitable; they could instead have provided only that the Legislature provide whatever public education it deemed appropriate.” 115

The Legislature’s discretion, in other words, is “not without bounds.”116 Although the determinations of what constitutes a “general diffusion of knowledge” and how to provide such an education can be said to involve “political questions,” they are not nonjusticiable political questions.

On another front, the State argues that the Plaintiffs do not have standing to make claims under article VII, section 1 because the courts cannot provide the relief sought, namely legislative changes including changes in funding. The Court rejected a similar standing challenge in WOC II, holding that “being required to implement unconstitutional statutes” is sufficient to give the ISDs standing to assert constitutional violations.117 The ISDs also argue that the Intervenors lack standing. The Intervenors include individual students who have standing because they are allegedly suffering directly by enduring an education provided by an unconstitutional system.118

To be sure, the State focuses more precisely than before on the “re-dressability” component of standing, but we remain persuaded that the Plaintiffs have standing. Generally, standing under Texas law “requires a concrete injury to the -plaintiff and a real controversy between the parties that will be resolved by the court.”119 On the question of the court’s capacity to fashion relief, we have recognized that a plaintiff lacks standing if the requested injunctive relief “could not possibly remedy his situation.” 120 In today’s case as in prior decisions, the trial court’s relief was to enjoin the Legislature from funding the school system until the *848Legislature cured the constitutional infirmity.121 In fact, the court’s injunction used language identical to language used in the WOC II injunction that we affirmed.122 While the trial court could not write its own substitute legislation,123 we cannot say that for standing purposes the relief granted by the trial court could not possibly spur the Legislature to act, as it has done in the past in response to court decisions. After all, the Legislature has acted each time this Court has declared the school finance system unconstitutional.124 The Plaintiffs have standing.

Finally, the State argues that the Plaintiffs’ claims, including the state property tax claims under Article VIII, section 1-e, are not ripe because school financing has changed over time. In particular, the State argues the evidence introduced in the first phase of the trial relating to the funding cut was superseded by the 83rd Legislature’s decision to restore most of the funding in 2013. We have not previously addressed a ripeness argument of the sort the State now presents, but we reject it as well. Generally, the ripeness doctrine concerns whether there is sufficient development of the facts and issues to ensure that the court’s judgment is not based on contingent or uncertain events.125 Some of the evidence presented to the trial court might have been mooted by subsequent events, including the restoration of some of the funding. But as the Plaintiffs correctly point out, the trial court reopened the evidence and made new findings. The State argues that the legislative changes considered when the evidence was reopened were so new that relevant data on their effectiveness was unavailable. Trial court findings based on the new evidence may not be as persuasive as the earlier ones, but the changed circumstances do not render the' entire trial court proceeding unripe.

The State’s advocacy for a strict application of the ripeness doctrine would mean school finance cases could never be entertained, because the facts relating to funding, test scores, tax rates, property values, etc., are always changing to some extent. This is not to say that changed circumstances are not problematic for the Plaintiffs, for reasons discussed below. But the inevitable changes in relevant factual circumstances do not place school finance cases completely beyond the decision-making reach of the courts; again, holding otherwise would effectively overrule our longstanding recognition that the courts *849play a legitimate, constitutionally authorized role in these disputes.

E. Adequacy

Article VII, section 1 imposes a duty on the Legislature to achieve a “general diffusion of knowledge.” This requirement has come to be known as the “adequacy” requirement. The school system is constitutionally adequate if it achieves a general diffusion of knowledge.126 Deferring to the Legislature’s role in providing a general diffusion of knowledge, we have looked to sections 4.001(a) and 28.001 of the Education Code (quoted above), through which the Legislature has declared that its obligation to provide a general diffusion of knowledge is satisfied if school districts are reasonably able to provide their students with (1) access to a quality education that enables them to achieve their potential and fully participate now and in the future in the social, economic, and educational opportunities of Texas and the nation, and (2) a meaningful opportunity to acquire the essential knowledge and skills, reflected in curriculum requirements, such that upon graduation they are prepared to continue to learn in postsecondary educational, training, or employment settings.127 We did not adopt these as the Court’s standards for a constitutional education, or the final word on constitutionally required standards. Rather, we recognized this to be “the Legislature’s understanding of a general diffusion of knowledge.”128 As the policy-making branch of government, the Legislature may retain, revise, or replace these provisions, to reflect its current view of what the required curriculum, and thus a “general diffusion of knowledge,” should produce.

In our last three school finance cases, we have made clear that we presume the Legislature achieves a general diffusion of knowledge by devising a curriculum and an accountability regime to meet legislatively designed accreditation standards for schools and districts.129 Again, that presumption is not irrebutta-ble, and is subject to judicial review, but our review of the adequacy requirement under the arbitrariness standard is always “very deferential.”130

Perhaps in contrast to earlier lawsuits, the issue of adequacy looms especially large in today’s case. CCISD accurately describes the issue as “now at the heart of this case.” We conclude that the district court’s analysis of this issue was flawed, and its ultimate determination of constitutional inadequacy wrong. This error, unfortunately, bleeds over into other issues and infects much of the trial court’s analysis of them, as detailed below.

1. The Trial Court’s Reliance on Spending Levels