There is nothing basic about the state funding formula for public schools in Texas. Woody Brewton, long time superintendent in Lorena, and I were talking and when he was informing the state legislature on school finance and when he was asked the question, “how many people in Texas totally understand the state funding formula?” Woody replied with, “Six people totally understand the formula.” I understand our formula must meet the needs of many districts, but when it is so complicated that only a few people truly understand it, that is the most important issue.
The second issue facing our funding formula is Senate Bill 7 or Robin Hood. I know it has its merit and its heart is in the right place but is this method best for funding Chapter 42 school districts? Taking money from taxpayers in one district and giving it to another the proper practice? If someone moves into a district and pays taxes, should that money not go to the children in that district?
Federal funding is the third issue that faces school districts and not just in Texas. Since 2002, the federal educational plan or No Child Left Behind, allow for federal monitoring of students and that job their schools were doing. Average Yearly Progress is the monitoring system that the federal government uses yet their contribution is very small to the overall cost of running a district. Now this monitoring is needed and we want to keep the states’ rights to educate its children, but the federal government should be contributing more than it does. If the federal government wants to monitor and govern what the schools are doing, then there should be more of a contribution to the betterment of its countries children.
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