Role of Education in the State of Texas and the Mechanism for Funding It

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Role of Education in the State of Texas and the Mechanism for Funding It

The state of Texas has over a thousand school districts, most being independent except for one. This means that they are separate from any form of municipal government. School districts are not bound within confines of the city or county boundaries. Independent school districts have the authority to tax residents and declare eminent domain over their property. The Texas Education Agency has the mandate of overseeing these districts to provide supplemental funding, but often, its jurisdiction covers only poorly performing districts. Thirty-six separate and distinct universities exist in Texas and, among these; thirty-two belong to one of the six university systems. The Carnegie Foundation classifies three of Texas’s universities as Tier 1 research institutions.

The Texas education system has had some challenges in the recent past. Earlier this year, a state court in Texas ruled that the state funds its public schools unconstitutionally, since the insufficient money is distributed unfairly. In the trial that lasted for twelve weeks, the judge quickly agreed with the schools that the funding process in use was in violation of the state constitution. Saying what a great relief it was, Wayne Pierce, the Executive Director of Equity Center, an organization that represents a majority of the school districts, agreed with the decision, arguing that the system was hopelessly broken (Smith 2013). This might be because Texas does not have a state income tax and relies on local property tax, a scheme humorously called Robin Hood. The scheme, enacted a decade ago because of a lawsuit, requires a school with more resources to share with the ones in poorer districts.

Both the wealthy and the poor areas filed this current lawsuit. Mark Trachtenberg, an attorney who represented nearly 90 schools in the Texas School Coalition explained that, with the budgets reduced by as much as $5.4 billion in just the past two years, even the wealthy schools had trouble meeting an ever-increasing academic standard. Quoting the former lieutenant governor, Trachtenberg, who represented the wealthier schools, explained that schools needed more money for smaller sized classes especially for earlier grades. The schools argued that they needed money for various reasons like remediation in the form of tutoring, retaining and hiring quality teachers and full-day pre-K programming. The advocate said that the state had more than enough money in its emergency fund to start restoring some of the funding (Scharrer 56).

On the other hand, the state said that the schools have more than enough funding to sustain them only that it was being mismanaged. Michael Sullivan, a lobbyist with the group Empower Texans agrees with the state, saying that needing more money going into the classroom does not necessarily mean increased funding but better management of the available funds. Sullivan further explained that the districts mismanaged funds, building expensive stadiums and paying superintendents more than necessary while teachers were fired for lack of funding. With all these arguments form both sides; an appeal to overturn the ruling is certain. The plaintiffs in the case said that the lawmakers should not wait too long to act since the more they wait, the more the students shall suffer. Some may not finish high school and college readiness will be impossible. Some state lawmakers have already jumped into action, setting aside money in case more funding might be needed. As they prepare a remedy, the senator says that the debate will continue, since the judge only offered a ruling and not a solution.

Works Cited

Smith, Tovia. Judge Rules Texas’ School-Funding Method Unconstitutional. 2013. Web. June 27, 2013. <http//:www.npr.org/2013/02/04/171113168/judge-rules-texas-school-funding-method-unconstitutional>

Scharrer, Gary. Hispanic children make up 91% of school enrollment growth. San Antonio. San Antonio tribune. 2010. Print.