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Current Issues Facing Educational Funding in Texas
General Diffusion of Knowledge
The Texas Constitution
requires a public education system to support the General Diffusion
of Knowledge (GDK). There is not a Constitutional
or statutory definition of GDK. Many people had defined GDK as
the accreditation and accountability rating requirements that
currently apply to public schools. Judge Dietz, in his ruling in
West Orange-Cove
v. Neeley, identified the entire education system with all its
requirements and mandates as being needed for a GDK.
Adequate Funding
No definition or measure
of adequacy exists in Texas law or rule. Recently, researchers
and policy experts have begun to consider
adequate funding to be the level of resources needed so that
all students
can meet all the state and federal requirements for testing,
school attendance, and graduation. Some believe that adequate
funding
should also include the cost of school district operations,
meaning adherence
to all laws and rules. At least three studies to determine
adequacy of funding have been recently conducted using Texas data.
The
results of these studies were presented at trial in West
Orange-Cove v.
Neeley. In his ruling, September 2004, the trial court judge
found that the
Texas education system was not adequately funded.
Fiscal capacity
Out of about 1,032 school
districts, about 700 are at or approaching the $1.50 M&O limit
while Texas ' public school system continues to grow by approximately
70,000 students per year.
With some districts facing
job cuts and salary cuts and others simply unable to provide for
the influx of new students
in
high-growth areas
of the state, school districts generally agree the system
needs to be restructured because they lack the fiscal
capacity to
respond to changing enrollments and changing requirements
of state and
federal
law.
Local Discretion
Local discretion is the
ability of school districts to raise additional revenue to meet
unique district and
community needs. If a school
district experiences a costly problem like building
mold, the district will need discretion to raise additional
funds for
mold remediation
and temporary housing of students who are temporarily
displaced. Other discretional expenditures may be
related to community
desires. For example, school district patrons may
want a
theater facility
at the high school. Or they may want to introduce
foreign language study in elementary school. To raise funds,
districts need
some local discretion to raise revenue through taxation----or
else
have the
ability to draw down state funds for such purposes.
Spending
According to Rankings & Estimates, produced by the National Education
Association Research group (May 2004), current expenditures per pupil
in Texas are $7,330 for 2003-04. The national average, by comparison,
is $8,156. This ranks Texas 32nd among the states in spending per
pupil. “Current expenditures” in this publication include
operating expenditures (salaries, books, material, transportation,
energy, etc), capital outlay, and debt service. |
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