"The good news is that the Court found what everyone already knows: Our teachers are working hard and our students are achieving.

"The crux of the Supreme Court's ruling is that our system of property taxes has evolved into a de facto statewide property tax, which is prohibited under the constitution. There is work left to do on the issue of taxation, and the Legislature must look hard at how to reform our tax system to promote fairness. For my part, I still feel strongly that we need to move away from the property tax. The Court set a June 1 deadline for the Legislature to address the issue of property taxes.

"As we deal with school finance, we can't forget that our hardworking teachers need a raise, and I will continue to fight for that."