These concepts will almost certainly be used in legal evaluations of the issue of capital outlay. That is, adequacy is a prior condition for the achievement of educational equity. This principle requires that resources must exist at a minimum level before the issue of what is equitable can be determined. The achievement of equity is unlikely, in this view, if the various funding sources do not first provide resources sufficient, in general, to serve the needs of children in all the state's districts. The achievement of adequacy may be difficult, but the conditions of its evaluation are often specified in state laws and regulations.
Equity is a comparatively more subjective goal than adequacy.
In 1979, however, the West Virginia State Supreme Court ruled on the inadequacy of local property wealth to serve as the basis for funding school buildings. Poor districts should receive outside funds, on the theory that residency should not deprive students of equal access to educational resources. Ratios set for per-pupil funding should be adjusted upward in poor districts, if necessary, to counteract the effects of revenue imbalance. Tax schedules should ensure that taxpayers residing in impoverished areas will not bear a disproportionately heavy tax load. Equally clear is the fact that courts are beginning to link capital outlay financing to the established legal premises of adequacy and equity.