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A master story-teller, Dr. Jose A. Cardenas, offers us an insider's view of the 28-year history of school finance in Texas. Dr. Cardenas is the founder & director emeritus of IDRA & is the only person who has been actively involved in the entire school finance reform effort since the early days of the RODRIGUEZ VS. SAN ANTONIO ISD litigation when he was superintendent of the Edgewood Independent School District. More than a history, this book provides a blueprint for persons interested in bringing about future reform in schools & other social institutions. Beginning with a description of the Texas system in 1950, the account covers court cases, legislation, & advocacy efforts & concludes with the status & future of school finance reform. Personal vignettes sprinkled throughout offer glimpses of those special untold moments that impacted history. Much of this volume - including the myths of school finance & lessons learned - relate to reform efforts in other states as well. Dr. James A. Kelly, president of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, provides a foreword, "Fighting the Good Fight," describing Dr. Cardenas as a trailblazer & pioneer. (ISBN 1-878550-63-2; 1997; 387 pages; hardback) Distributed exclusively by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA); 210-684-8180; FAX: 210-684-5389; E-mail: [email protected]; URL: www.idra.org.
Contains papers by state education dept. policymakers, analysts, and data providers on emerging issues in school finance. Includes: estimates of disparities and analysis of the causes of expenditures in public school districts; race, poverty and the student curriculum; court-ordered school finance equalization; resource allocation to schools under conditions of radical decentralization; building equity and effectiveness into school-based funding models; alternative options for deflating education expenditures over time; productivity collapse in schools; and evaluating the effect of teacher degree level on educational performance.
This document contains recommendations for changes in the Texas system of educational finance to improve educational opportunity for Mexican Americans and African Americans. The report examines alternative methods of finance, focusing on methods for improving the existing property tax system. The authors recommend that the State (1) supervise and control assessment of property; (2) assume the revenue-raising function for public elementary and secondary education; (3) enact personal income and corporate profits taxes; (4) raise its level of per pupil expenditure; and (5) grant aid on the basis of a child's need.
Few studies have previously been focused on what superintendents recommend for creating a fair and equitable school finance system in Texas. Superintendents were interviewed to illuminate the school finance issues faced by urban school districts. This study was undertaken to analyze perceptions of superintendents in regard to the factors, challenges, and experiences of navigating and managing the Texas school finance system to achieve their districts’ goals and priorities. The research questions were the following: (a) What factors do superintendents’ believe affect the Texas school finance system in terms of equity and adequacy? (b) How do superintendents characterize challenges within the Texas school finance system? (c) How do superintendents use their experiences to address equity and adequacy within the Texas school finance system? This study followed a qualitative, interpretivist design as part of presenting the multiple case studies. Three participants based on purposefully sampling from the population of superintendents of urban public school districts in Texas served along with artifacts from their districts as the multiple case studies. Data sources included interviews and pertinent artifacts. The findings of this study represented three key areas: (a) factors superintendents’ believe affect the school finance system in terms of equity and adequacy, (b) superintendents’ characterizations of the challenges within the Texas school finance system, and (c) utilization of superintendents’ experiences to address equity and adequacy within the Texas school finance system. The superintendent perspective could assist governing bodies understand students’ needs, requirements, and accountability priorities so that equitable and adequate funding could occur through updating the weighted average daily attendance system, revising the funding formulas to include socioeconomic student enrollment, and critical programs and/or needs for accountability