Part 1: History of School Finance

History of School Finance

 Event 1

 The attempt to fund public education in Texas under the leadership of Mirabeau B. Lamar was significant to the establishment of   land grants in counties for public schools and university land set-aside to build the foundation for a Texas –wide public school system. 

Reason

Mirabeau B. Lamar was a multi-talented youth that took advantage of every opportunity afforded him.  He was viewed by his critics as a visionary leader.  Even though the timeframe of the events were not on his side he understood the benefits to lay the foundation to establish funding county land grants to distribute and share the revenue among school districts.   His vision of greatness demonstrated the preparation needed for College and Career Readiness during a challenging time in history.

   Event 2

The Gilmer-Aiken Law impacted how Texas would fund schools and how schools operated. Other controversial issues of the law proposal dealt with reduction of school districts, teacher salary increases and the structure of the State Board of Education and how the Commissioner of Education was selected.

Reason

Distinctively things have changed in public schools over the years, instead of the Department of Education we have The Texas Education Agency and the state superintendent is now the Commissioner of Education appointed by the governor.

The Gilmer-Aiken Laws can be considered landmark laws passed by the Texas legislature that brought the state's educational system into the twentieth century.  I view these laws as an example of educational reform at its best, including the consolidation of the state’s 4500 schools to 2900 districts, state support to supplement funds through valorem taxes, and of course the state-wide minimum salary for all teachers, which provided individual districts the flexibility to offer more if local revenues were available.  

Event 3

The concept of revenue equalization aid which began in 1929 demonstrated the adjustment to include district wealth and tax effort.  Over the years changes to education funding formulas resulted in increased funding for education, guidelines for teacher allocations, and the state minimum salary schedule for teachers. It is clearly understood that funding issues have been prevalent for some time.

Reason

The distinction of Chapter 41 Wealth Equalization and Chapter 42 Property Poor school districts in the school finance system in Texas has always intrigued my interest due the distinctiveness of how WADA was included in the funding formula with number of property value in a school district.  “Sharing the Wealth” or “Robin Hood” plan has caused tremendous controversy with districts that are property wealthy.  Education is a “Civil Right” and all students no matter what school district they attend have the right to be able to access programs and services deemed necessary to meet their educational needs.