Albert Kauffman
Associate Professor of Law
EXPERTISE:- School finance
- Testing issues
- Education
- Federal procedure
- Complex litigation
- Texas procedure
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:Applying Edgewood v. Kirby to Analysis of Fundamental Rights Under the Texas Constitution, 22 St. Mary's L.Rev. 69 (1991) (with Carmen Rumbaut)
The Hopwood Case: What It Says and What It Doesn't, chapter in Affirmative Action's Testament of Hope: Strategies for a New Era in Higher Education by Mildred Garcia, State University of New York Press (1997).
No Child Left Behind Act Resource Guide, The Civil Rights Project at Harvard (2004) (with Dan Losen)
The Texas School Finance Litigation Saga: Great Progress, Then Near Death By A Thousand Cuts, 40 St. Mary's Law Journal 511 (2008).
Tribute, Judge William Wayne Justice: A Life of Human Dignity and Refractory Mules, 41 St. Mary's Law Journal 215 (2010).
TEACHING:- Texas Civil Procedure
- Education Law
- Constitutional Law
- Federal procedure
- Complex litigation
- Civil Justice Clinic
- Externship program
EDUCATION:- B.S. 1971, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- J.D. 1974, University of Texas School of Law
In the current economy, public school finance is a hot topic, and few understand its ins and outs better than St. Mary’s University School of Law Professor Albert Kauffman.
Kauffman became widely known in the Texas school finance arena as lead counsel in the landmark case Edgewood v. Kirby. In that case, which was one of the most recognized decisions in recent state history, he represented a group of 13 underprivileged school districts claiming the school–funding system was unconstitutional. The case paved the way for an overhaul of public school funding in Texas that significantly reduced the gap in educational opportunities and funding between rich and poor school districts.
Kauffman is watching Texas school finance closely as the Texas Legislature wrangles with budget issues. “Texas public school education will be severely damaged by these cutbacks and – even worse – the poorest districts with the poorest students will be hurt even more than the other districts. This was a preventable tragedy,” he said.
Kauffman, who spent 20 years as a civil rights lawyer for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), also represented the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and other organizations in a similar case striving for more state funding for colleges along the Texas–Mexico border. These efforts lead to the 1993 South Texas Border Initiative, which has channeled more than a half–billion dollars in funding to public universities in the Texas border area.
At St. Mary’s School of Law, he teaches Texas and federal procedure and Constitutional Law and continues to specialize in education and civil rights. Kauffman was the only professor selected by Texas Lawyer in 2010 as one of the "The 25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter–Century."
About St. Mary's