This dissertation examines the impact a Tax Ratification Election has on student achievement in Texas. Texas schools continue to struggle with shrinking budgets and increasing standards of student achievement (Equity Center, 2011). This study will provide greater insight into whether school districts that have completed a TRE have created a…

Part of a series on state educational finances, this manual aims to help Texas educators, legislators, and citizens understand school finance reforms by providing them with an overview of their state's public elementary and secondary education financing plan and by exploring selected issues in school finance. An introductory chapter traces the…

This paper analyzes Texas Senate Bill 351 that reforms public school funding. The bill provides for additional state funding and significant increases in local property taxes. The bill creates county education taxing units to neutralize the enormous property wealth differences found among the state's 1,056 school districts. It also provides a…

Three basic issues were examined in this study: (1) the variance in the purchasing power of the dollar among Texas school districts, (2) the variance in local property tax burden among Texas school districts, and (3) consideration of alternative Texas school finance formulas. Data used were from the data banks of the Texas Education Agency and…