Education ensures that children from all backgrounds have equal opportunities to succeed. Yet, the education provided for many K-12 students in the state of Texas may not be equal due to the allocation of school funds under House Bill 3 (H.B. 3). To date, the Revenue to Population (RTP) Index and other normalized statistical metrics have not been…

At their best, K-12 public school systems can be engines of social and economic mobility. Unfortunately, schools in lower-income districts -- whose students have the greatest academic needs -- often receive less funding than their counterparts in more affluent districts. Discussions about closing these funding gaps usually zoom all the way out to…

The vast majority of funds for pre-K through grade 12 public schools in the United States -- nearly $800 billion or over 90% -- come from state and local funding sources. States, not school districts, are obligated to ensure that all students have access to the resources they need to succeed. States can take steps to reduce disparities between…

Contrary to Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell's majority opinion in "San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez" (1973), Texas's school finance system was the result of years of legislation and state-building that gave some areas the resources and capacity to provide more educational opportunities than others. As this…

As open enrollment charter districts have continued to grow in Texas, researchers and policymakers have continued to investigate how charter districts market themselves to the public in an effort to recruit students, teachers, and finances. Although a wealth of research has examined how charter districts recruit students, teachers, and finances…

In 2019, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 3 (HB 3) -- an $11.6 billion school finance reform law that dedicated over $6 billion toward investments in education and $5 billion toward replacing school property taxes with state aid. The property tax cut portion of HB 3 is set to expand each year, costing the state more money annually without…

U.S. charter schools are publicly funded through state school finance formulas that often mirror the traditional public school finance systems. While charter school advocates and critics disagree over whether charters receive an equitable share of funding, few discussions are based on rigorous analyses of funding and expenditures. Most prior…

The purpose of this study is to examine the propositions of "money matters/doesn't matter" in a zero-sum public school system. Specifically, this study seeks to assess the impact of Texas Wealth Equalization Program on the academic performance of contributing wealthy school districts and the receiving poor school districts. Although the…

For nearly two decades, the state of Texas mandated gifted education services and provided funding to public school districts. One policy that was unique to the state was a mandatory minimum spending requirement. This research examines how mandatory minimum spending floors influenced spending in public school districts within the state and how…

Purpose: Three major purposes were present in this journal-ready dissertation. The first purpose was to determine the monies spent for Guidance Counseling Services, Social Work Services, and Instructional Leadership per pupil in real dollars and as a percent of the total monies at Texas elementary, middle, and high schools. The second purpose was…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Education Policy Issues in Texas & Georgia." Contents include: (1) What to…

Educational expenditures continue to be a topic of discussion and concern for educators, politicians, and families. The impact of school expenditures has long been debated, but recent evidence links increased expenditures to better post-academic outcomes, especially for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. To date, this research has not…

The intention of this paper is to add to existing knowledge of how building-level spending is prioritized toward horizontal and vertical equity during severe economic downturns. Using a sample of all public schools in Texas during the Great Recession, we examine how schools undergoing the greatest spending reductions reallocated their spending on…

This article explores state school funding in Ohio and examines the concepts of equity and adequacy. This is accomplished not by conducting an empirical study but through a thorough review of the current environment of school funding in the state. For Ohio, the concepts of equity and adequacy are especially pertinent when considering that Ohio's…

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way that families and policymakers view K-12 education. Learning loss is having an outsized impact on students who were furthest from opportunity before the pandemic. And families are increasingly looking for new educational options for their children. For decades, access to educational options…