Three Most Historical Moments in Texas Public Education

            It took great foresight of our fore fathers to see value in education.  The landscape in the 1800’s looked much different in sight as well as in mind.  To provide an education to all who wanted it and to know that it was the government’s responsibility lets us know how important education has been to the people in Texas.  When you plant pecan trees, you will not reap the benefits of the harvest for many years.  That simple metaphor holds true for Texas Public Education.  An early investment my not pay off overnight but will pay large dividends in the future.  With that, the first historical moment came in 1836 when the Texas Declaration of Independence sited the failure of the Mexican Government, “to establish any public system of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources…” among the reasons for severing political ties with Mexico.  This simple act is where it all started and why we do what we do today.

            The second major historical event was the passing of the Gilmer-Aikin Act of 1949.  This act prescribed the reorganization of state education administration while also established the “Minimum Foundation Program,” which created a funding system that provided revenue for education from both state and local sources.  Those sources were broken down into eighty percent of the funding would come from the state and the local funds would furnish the remaining twenty percent.  This act also created an elected State Board of Education that appointed a commissioner of education, and reorganized the administration of state public school policy through the Texas Education Agency.

            Lastly, the third major historical event is Senate Bill 7, better known as Robin Hood, passed in 1993.  This bill allowed for the state to recapture property tax.  The bill has come under much scrutiny, but its heart is in the right place.  The purpose for recapturing revenue from high-wealth districts in using it to fund lower-wealth districts was to improve equity in the funding system.  Although Robin Hood seems too many of those wealthy districts wrong, there is nothing lurking around the corner to take its place.  Once the state opened that box, it will be hard to call back.  That money that has been taken from the wealthier districts and given to the districts having less is counted upon.  If the lawmakers were to do away with Senate Bill 7, the state would have to make up for that lost income for those lesser districts.