Week Three Assignment, Part 1 – Texas School Finance: Developing a Position Paper after Comparing and Analyzing District Snapshots

	District 1 Example	District 2 Example
% Eco Dis	93.3	20.7
Total Refined ADA Adjusted for Decline	3893.75	4032.94
Weighted ADA (WADA)	5555.82	4794.08

 

 

 

 

 

Group: According to the School Funding 101 Glossary, students in Texas with additional educational needs are weighted for funding purposes to help recognize the additional costs of educating those students.  Weighted programs include special education (D1=9%, D2=7%), vocational (D1=24%, D2=14%), bilingual (D1=41%, D2=2%) gifted and talented (D1=5%, D2=4%), and compensatory education. District 1 has a higher percentage of the specialized groups that generate weighted funding - special education, bilingual/ESL, and Career & Technical Education - than District 2. Each student in those programs provide additional funding for WADA. When those weighted students are included in the calculations, they result in an increased total WADA. These factors create a stronger representation of “need-based” financing considerations as opposed to those represented in district #2.

I enjoyed this portion of the assignment because it helped me to better understand the vocabulary that we are currently learning.  It also helped me to look at and compare data between two districts and determine why a discrepancy exists.  This is not a task that could have just been lectured on.  As a Superintendent, I am going to be responsible for comparing my district’s snapshot data to neighboring districts and districts in the area that are comparable of size.  This assignment helped me to understand what areas to look at and compare.