School Finance

In my opinion the three biggest events in Texas school finance history are:

Mirabeau B. Lamar established public land grants to help fund and build our public school system. He is credited as being the Father of Texas Education because he was the main visionary behind this movement to establish and partially fund public schools in Texas. I think this is the biggest event in the historical background of Texas school finance because it got it all started. Without Lamar pushing for these land grants to establish public schools in each county and two major universities we would be way behind. We also need only to look at our university’s name to see how important he was.

The court’s decision in Edgewood v. Kirby got Texas school finance headed in the right direction in regards to equity and equality. This case proved that by using local property taxes to fund local schools our system is unfair and unconstitutional. It helped to promote equitable funding and equal opportunity. This case led to the establishment of what we all know as the Robin Hood plan. This too has its many flaws. We obviously have not achieved equity and equality, but this was another major event in Texas school finance.

My third choice for a major event in Texas school finance is the Gilmer-Aiken Act of 1949. This act established the Minimum Foundations Program in which funding for education comes from both state and local sources. This was the first comprehensive framework for our school finance system.

There are many issues impacting the current state formula.  In my opinion, the main issue leading to improper funding is the fact that about half of a school district’s funding comes from local funds.  These are mostly in the form of property taxes.  If every region in the state was exactly the same and properties were evaluated as being equal everywhere, then maybe it would not be so bad.  However, it is obvious that some areas have property values that vastly differ from other areas.  Sometimes these differences can be just across a city or county line.  When school districts tax these unequal properties they are going to get unequal funding.  This is an injustice to our educational funding system.  Even through recapture, it still is an unfair system.  Another issue impacting the state formula is where our funds come from.  We depend greatly on the state and federal government and, as we have begun to see, without them we may not be able to fund our schools properly.  If there is another solution where we do not have to be as dependent on the state and federal governments for funding, it would help ensure our financial security.  The final issue impacting the state formula is the fact that many districts need different amounts of funding based upon their unique setting.  There may be a rural school district that has a smaller class size ratio, maybe one with a larger than normal number of special education students, maybe one with a large low socioeconomic rate, etc.  This list could go on and on, but the point remains each district is unique and special unto itself.  Each district should be funded that way.  There are some areas where they try to compensate for the disparities, but there is no perfect system.  I think that may be the biggest realization going through this course thus far – we do not have a fair system and it needs an overhaul, but no system is perfect.  When they do eventually come up with a better idea for school funding there will still be flaws in it.  I just hope it is much closer to being an equal and equitable system.