A state provided for a public school system based primarily on property tax revenues from various districts. School districts that had a property tax base below a certain threshold received supplemental funds from the state that were derived from state lottery revenues. The school districts receiving the supplemental funds served a predominantly Hispanic population as compared to the school districts funded only from property tax revenues. To help balance its budget this year, the state legislature passed a statute terminating the supplemental funds program and earmarking the lottery revenues for deficit reduction. A group of parents of Hispanic schoolchildren in one of the school districts formerly receiving supplemental funds filed suit in federal court, alleging that the state's action in terminating the funding violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Which of the following best describes the appropriate standard by which the court should review the constitutionality of the state action?
A. Because the state statute results in discrimination against a suspect class, the state will have to demonstrate that the statute is necessary to vindicate a compelling state interest.
B. Because the right to education burdened by the statute is not a fundamental right, the parents will have to demonstrate that the statute is not substantially related to an important state interest.
C. Because no suspect class or fundamental right is improperly burdened in this case, the parents will have to demonstrate that the statute is not rationally related to any legitimate state interest.
D. Because the state statute is not discriminatory in intent, the state will have to demonstrate only that the statute is rationally related to a legitimate state interest.