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impa
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VOL. 7FUNDING
76% of Americans think parents are themost important factor in determiningwhether students learn in school.
Reading for spiritual reflection
Jesus was known for being a greatstory teller. He talked about
spiritual things by using commonimagery like farming or dealingwith a landlord or tending avineyard. But the point of the storywas always something with eternalvalue. Jesus rarely interpreted hisparables but encourage his listenersto figure out the true meaning.Here is one parable that we asreaders are left to interpret forourselves:
For which of you, wanting to builda tower, does not first sit down and
make an estimate of the cost, andsee whether he has enough to
complete it? Otherwise, when hehas laid its foundation, and is notable to finish, all who see it will
begin to make fun of him, saying,This man began to build, and wasnot able to finish. Luke 14:28-30
So why does Jesus care if someoneis unable to complete a building
project? Jesus is probably talkingabout the cost of Christiandiscipleship, or being a committedand faithful Christian. But the sameconcept can be applied to manymatters. Lets think of the tower asa community. For a community tothrive, an investment must be made
in that community.
continued...
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questionsfor discussion.
Use the space below eachquestion to record your
where do you thinkmost publiceducation financingcomes from?
do you know whatthe Robin Hoodsystem is? do youagree or disagreewith this practice?
does the amount ofmoney spent oneach student impacttheir academicperformance?
others in your Action Group.
Post responses on yourAction Groups page atDallasFACET.org.
It is difficult, often impossible,to raise healthy children in adisintegrated community.Without local institutions thatdraw families and youngpeople together aroundcommon interests andactivities even the most
heroic child-rearing is likely tofail. Conversely, by gatheringand organizing members ofthe community aroundactivities of common interest particularly the healthydevelopment of children even the most devastatingconditions can be reversed.
The Harlem Childrens ZoneBusiness Plan 2001-2009
A prospering jobs market, affordablehousing and quality education are justa few of the things needed to create asolid foundation and a healthycommunity.
Ensuring that each of these things is inplace requires commitment anddedication on the part of the entire
community and its leaders inparticular. Education is an especiallycostly investment. It is very easy to cutcorners when it comes to educationfunding, but the effect is disastrous.By knowing and disclosing the full costneeded to provide each child in ourcommunity with a quality education,we can ensure the funds are provided.Education is the key to a communityscurrent and future success, and it iscertainly worth all the investment. Cana community exist with a poorly
funded educational system? Yes, butthe community will be broken and itwill not prosper. Remember, if you laythe foundation for a tower and thenrun out of money before the tower canbe completed, you will be left with aslab of concrete, which benefits noone.
It is time that we realize the full cost ofwhat it will take to educate ourchildren well in Dallas, and ask ourgovernor, our legislators and ourdistrict leaders to find a way to ensurethe funds will be there. We must planahead and make sure we can committo our educational intentions. We oweit to our citys children not to give thema half-hearted education.
by Cameron Mason Vickrey
http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.dallasfacet.org/http://www.dallasfacet.org/8/4/2019 Impact: Volume 7
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ume SIX
Funding
Part 1: The Property Tax
and Public Education
Funding
Many of the troubles facing public
education can be traced back to
money, or a lack thereof. School
budgets are as different as the
states that finance them.
Generally, though, states use a
combination of income taxes,
corporate taxes, sales taxes and
other fees to provide 48% of the
budget for the elementary and
secondary schools. Local districts
contribute around 44%, drawn
mostly from local property taxes.
The federal government contributes
about 8% of state education
budgets. Together, these funds are
distributed to school districts on a
per-student basis (to make sure
there is enough to cover each
childs education) andcategorically (to make sure there is
enough for each special program
or facility).
Because local funding is so
important to public education, the
amount of money some schools
receive tends to vary, depending
largely on property values.
Federal Support
Public education took a hard
during the 2008 recession,
resulting in $100 billion in
education aide under the AmRecovery and Reinvestment A
(ARRA). By 2011, as the fed
stimulus was coming to an en
state legislatures began to tig
their belts and make significa
to their K-12 budget. The Na
Governors Association report
estimated states were on trac
spend $2.5 billion less on K-1
education during the 2012 fis
year than they did in 2011. T
has already started to feel th
effect of these reductions by w
of teacher layoffs, larger clas
sizes, and cuts to extracurricu
activities.
Texas School Funding
Funding for Texass schools cfrom local, state, and federal
(The percentage of revenue f
each source will vary from di
to district because of differen
local property value and stud
population). In Texas, 38.8%
the states tax revenue comes
property taxesmaking it the
most reliant state on property
taxes.
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ocal funds come from three
primary sources. First, there is the
ocal property tax. The school
district tax includes two elements, a
maintenance and operations
M&O) tax used to fund dailyoperations, and interest and sinking
I&S) tax used to pay debt service
on any bonds issued to fund the
construction of schools and other
acilities. A bond issue is a way to
borrow money for construction
projects and/or technology
enovations. Voters pass/approve
he bond issue and the schoolboard requests for bids and sells
bond to purchaser with the lowest
nterest cost.
Second, revenue come from the
ale of local bonds, sale of real
property, and the proceeds of
capital leases. Third, there is other
ocal revenue, or revenue derived
rom shared-services agreements,uition and fees, facility rentals and
other sources.
State funds come from a variety of
ources. There is the Foundation
School Fund the Texas
Constitution commits 25% of all
evenue from state occupation taxes
the oil production tax, natural gas
production tax and others) to this
fund. The Foundation School Fund
also receives amounts transferred
from state general revenue.
Then there are the Available
School and Textbook Funds.Earnings from the states Permanent
School Fund (PSF) are transferred
to the Available School Fund (ASF),
which is appropriated by the
Legislature for textbooks and direct
aid to school districts. The PSF is an
endowment consisting of state-
owned land and mineral rights,
royalty earnings, stocks and bonds,
and designed to be a perpetual
funding source for education.2 The
ASF also receives one quarter of all
revenue generated by the motor
fuels tax.
The other state funds come from
state lottery proceeds, TEA-
administered grants that support
initiatives to improve student
performance as well as teacher
merit pay and awards, and from
Teacher Retirement System (TRS)
Retirement and Health Benefits
which is the states contribution for
active school employee health
benefits and retirees retirement and
health benefits.
Federal funding is also given to
states from the U.S. Department of
Education, most of which is
administered by the TEA and th
state treasury. And of course
federal stimulus funding from the
American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is in ethrough 2011, resulting in a
temporary increase in the share
school district revenue.
Part 2: Robin Hood Finan
System
The Robin Hood plan (also kn
as Chapter 41 of the Texas
Education Code) is a financing
method used by the Texas publi
school system, where caps are
placed on tax revenues for scho
districts and any excess revenue
redistributed to poorer schooldistricts.
For years, a great disparity exis
between the amount of revenue
highest property wealth districts
could raise compared to the low
property wealth districts. To rem
this, the Texas legislature passed
law in 1993 that would equalize
funding in all Texas school distri
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Similar to the legend of Robin
Hood, who robbed from the rich
and gave to the poor, this law
requires districts over a certain
property wealth level to share theirwealth with lower wealth districts.
A school district is considered
property wealthy and subject to
Chapter 41 status when its property
value divided by the number of
students using the weighted
average daily attendance (WADA)
ormula exceeds the state maximum
of $308,000. Local tax valuesabove that amount are recaptured
by the school finance system and
redistributed (per a formula) to
poor school districts. Chapter 42
school districts are the ones that
receive the additional money from
he State of Texas.
Currently, 135 school districts must
share their wealth while about 900
districts receive money under the
Robin Hood system. These 900
districts that receive money under
Robin Hood educate 88% of Texas
public school students.
Recently, HJR 104 (a House Joint
Resolution Bill) was introduced on
February 23, 2011, seeking to
eliminate the Robin Hood Law. The
bill was referred to the Public
Education committee on March 10,
2011.
Part 3: Local Districts andFundraising
The Texas public school funding
system is a shared arrangement
between the state and local school
districts. State and local funds for
public education in Texas are
distributed through a system of
formulas known collectively as the
Foundation School Program (FSP).
All Texas school districts (but not
charter schools) are entitled, under
the Texas Constitution, to receive
payments from the Available
School Fund (ASF) for each eligible
student enrolled. The ASF is
primarily made up of revenue
generated by the states fuel tax
and the Permanent School Fund
(PSF). The bulk of ASF funds are
distributed on a per capita basis to
school districts. For 2010-2011, the
ASF rate was $466.66.
District Fund Balances represent
difference between a districts
assets and liabilities. Each distri
total fund balance consists of thr
separate balances: restricted,assigned, and unassigned funds
Restricted funds are those that
cannot be spent or are reserved
a specific legal purpose, such as
funds associated with the federa
National School Lunch program
Assigned funds are amounts
reserved by the districts schoolboard for a specific purpose, su
as money designated for
construction projects not funded
bond debt, or for self-insurance
programs.
Unassigned funds are the
remaining funds meant to help
guarantee districts cash flow, si
state, local, and federal fundsarrive at different times througho
the year. These funds are
understandably scarce given the
number of schools that take thei
share of the funding pie.
In Texas, 38.8% of the states tax reve
comes from property taxesmaking it the s
most reliant state on property ta
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Worthwhile programs such as
music, art, physical education, and
foreign languages have been
curtailed or eliminated, and
neighborhood schools have been
shut down. What is most disturbing
is that in many areas of the
country, the ax is falling on core
academic programs, and the trend
is likely to continue. In an effort to
offset the growing deficits, many
districts have undertaken small and
large-scale fundraising campaigns.
Some proven ways to supplementan annual school district budget
include partnerships with
surrounding businesses, small and
large-scale fundraising efforts,
foundations, and local support
venues. A fundraising effort
involves the help and leadership of
many different people. A
superintendent would be the
overall leader of a fundraisingeffort. His or her primary
responsibility is to meet with
potential donors and foster a vision
for the overall fundraising effort.
Other major players are the school
board members, principals,
teachers and staff, and of course,
parents.
Part 4: Per Student Funding
Nationally, over 20 years, per-
pupil costs increased from $7,603
in 1987 to $11,674 in 2007, a 54%
increase when adjusted for
inflation. Texas spends a higher
percentage of its state budget on
public education and higher
education than other states on
average. But over the last decade,
Texas has dropped sharply below
the national average in per-pupilspending. During the 2009-10
school year, Texas spent $8,540
per student--$1,959 below the
national average ($10,499). This
places Texas 43rd among the states
in spending per students. New York
ranked No. 1 at $18,216. In New
York and several other states with
high spending per student, the
costs were driven by salaries and
benefits.
Average Daily Attendance (ADA)
is a method of counting students
for the purpose of providing state
aid to school districts. Currently,
Texas counts students in attendance
each day and averages the
attendance count over the year.
This is the number they use to
determine per student spendin
Some districts qualify for a
Compensatory Education
allotment. If a district participain the Compensatory Educatio
Program, they are committed
providing additional instructio
programming for underachiev
or educationally disadvantage
students. The amount of financ
support the districts receive fo
program is based on the num
students that participate in thefederal free or reduced-priced
lunch program.
Does spending more money p
student make a school better?
Maybe. The fact is, there is no
research to directly corrobora
this relationship. A better que
to look at is how schools are
spending their money. Everystudent is capable of being
successful in school, but so ma
lack the extracurricular resour
that address their non-academ
needs.
During the 2009-10 school year, Texas spent $8,540 per
tudent. This places Texas 43rd among the states in spending
er students. New York ranked No. 1 at $18,216.
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notes
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Break into pairs and take
turns explaining to each
other the Texas public
education financing system.
Then discuss what you think
should change if you hadthe power to change it.
Explain how you would go
about advocating for the
changes you believe should
happen, if any, in relation to
school finance.
What is the issue youwould address?
What change do you
envision?
Who would you address
to deal with the issue?
good ideas?
let others hear them on
DallasFACET.org
Further Information
School funding in Texas:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index.aspx?
id=2147484908&menu_id=645&menu_id2=789&cid=2147483
657
http://www.investintexasschools.org/schoolfunding/history.php
Robin Hood Finance System:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6796&menu_id=645
1. Go to www.DallasFACET.org & create a New Account2. Take action on current Action Alerts3. Join an Action Group & take part in the online conversation on your groups blog4. Invite friends to join.
Ste s to Take ActionOur lives begin to end
the day we become silentabout things that matter.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr
SPECIAL THANKS for the research and development of materials toAnn Drumm, Melva Franklin, Maria Rojas Fernandez, Leslie Johnson,
Shree Moffett, and Cameron Vickrey.
Work product of Dallas Faith Communities Coalition. Permission required for reproduction.
DFCC2011
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