School Finances

Part One: History of Texas School Finance

After being involved in the actual process of school funding with my district this summer, I have begun to realize that there are many variations within the funding formula and it is extremely confusing to figure out.  I’m not sure that there is an exact way to fund public schools that would be "fair" to all.  It has been a great learning experience to actually have the opportunity to be involved with this budgeting process, and see how our district is actually funded.

The first event in Texas school finance history that I find important is: in 1839 Mirabeau B. Lamar laid the ground work for a public education system in Texas.  Prior to this, much of the education came from the local Masonic lodges without much, or any funding.  Mirabeau B. Lamar, being a mason himself, and education being one of their primary goals for everyone, began the process of creating a public education system in Texas.  This event is so important because this was the foundation that our public education system is now formed upon.  Many changes have been made throughout history, and they will continue to be changed in the future, but this historical event was so important for the beginning of our education system.

The next event, in 1869, was that of the new Texas constitution and the first time that a tax was used to help fund public education.  Again, I think these foundation principles are the most important in that they set the standard for what and how our school funding works now.  It is obviously an ever changing formula that must meet our public school districts' needs. 


The last important event happened in 1971 in the court case Rodriquez v. San Antonio I.S.D.  The court ruled that the method of funding public schools was a violation of the equity clause of the fourteenth amendment.  Students in poorer districts did not receive nearly the opportunities that richer school districts received.  I believe that this was the beginning of the state trying to make the system as fair as it could be.

Part Two: State Formula Insights

I feel that an important part of the funding is based on the ADA.  I have to keep such a close eye on our ADA because of our district's size.  Our last years ADA was just over 100 students, pk-12.  The formula funds any district between 90 and 129 students for 130 students and if a district drops below the 90 ADA, then the funding really drops off and can be detrimental to a district.  History has shown that when this happens, programs have to be dropped in order to run the school, and then it’s almost like a snowball effect.  Students begin to move to other districts in order to have those particular programs, and eventually the school will either consolidate or close its doors.  When I was in larger school districts the ADA was really not as an important factor because in most cases the kids will be there and that is just a given.  It’s interesting to see that size, geography, and ethnic make-up in school districts actually changes the way the particular school views things such as funding.

The next important thing that we are concerned with is our CAD.  Our appraisal district is of course responsible for our tax collection and ensuring that we receive the majority of those funds.  Being that we are in such a rural area with no commercial tax base at all, it makes it very difficult to gain much money from our property taxes.  The majority of our property taxes are timber and Ag exempt, and that further hurts the school district as far as revenue.  Our appraisal does an outstanding job of collecting these taxes and it is so vital for us to continue running as a school district.


The final area of funding that we must watch closely and are very concerned with is that of Compensatory education.  With the high percentage of at-risk and low socioeconomic students in our school district, it is imperative that we receive this funding.  This is great revenue for us, because these students do sometimes cost more to educate and need more resources in order to give them an appropriate education.  We are around 75% in this particular category and that makes this particular funding very important to our district. 

Part Three: Equality, Equity, and Adequacy

Equity: all schools receive the appropriate funding for the differences that each have.

1.    Each school has different demographics and some require different amounts of funding for those extra programs.

2.    CTE programs require different amounts of funding depending on the amount of participation that the particular district has.

Equality: all schools and students receive the same basic educational opportunities.

1.    ADA-  all schools basic funding comes from their Average Daily Attendance

2.    Pre-K funding- I know that all schools are funded for half day, but in our case we provide full day pre-k and are only funded for half day.  I feel as if we should be funded for a full day program.

Adequacy:  having significant enough funding that provides for all aspects of a school district.  Having the amount of funding that provides adequate resources for the educational process.

1.    Receiving funding that provides for the rising cost of textbooks and supplemental resources

2.    Having adequate funding to provide for teacher, administration, and staff salaries.