Challenges in the Texas School Finance System: Funding, Inflation, and Equity

Abstract

Texas School Finance System There are many challenges facing the education system in Texas, with funding being among the major. Texas school funding is a system that guarantees every school district a certain amount of funding for each student, and the formula does not respond to inflationary effects (Villanueva, 2016). The amount of funding depends on states lawmakers who determine the base number for each student. It is a move that rises significant concerns as many educators believe in the system's inconveniences as states barely increase the base number even with inflation, thus offering schools inadequate funds that cannot cater to their needs. The rising number of student enrollments and emerging special needs students indicate why the state lawmakers must adjust the base number from time to time. It is important to note that the Texas school finance system combines local and state sources to fund schools. Do they offer as much as they collect? According to Wheeler and Dallas-Fort Worth (2019), property tax bills are raising drastically, which places a severe burden on Texas home and business owners. Property tax rates set by local entities like school districts report relatively little change compared to the tax revenue defining the in-balance in the school funding system. The system also experiences challenges attributed to local and state funding (Villanueva, 2016). For the system to remain viable there must be a balance between these two significant school funding sources, thus the need to adjust the current formulas that define their shares. For instance, when local tax revenue increases, it automatically reduces the state funding, which dictates the origin of a constant base number while distributing the funding, thus the need for a logical balance between the two as expressed in the 2016 Supreme Court ruling. In a case with 600 plaintiffs...