Week Three Assignment, Part 2 – Analyzing School Finance Issues in Two Texas Districts

	District 1 Example	District 2 Example
Revenue per WADA @ Compressed Rate	$5,044	$7,206
Total target revenue for M&O	3903 x $5555.82 = $21,684,365.46 See note below $5,044 x 5555,815 = $28,023,530	3890 x $4794.08 = $18,648,971.20 See note below $7,206 x 4,794.76 = $34,546,111
Total teachers, librarians, nurses and counselors	281	307

A district’s revenue at the compressed rate is the sum of the state’s share of a district’s Tier I entitlement and the revenue from the district’s (compressed) M&O tax rate, adjusted for minimum or maximum hold harmless provisions.  Adjustments are made each year to reflect the current year’s allotment.  Once a base allotment is determined, adjustments for current year teacher, librarian, counselors, and nurses salary allotments are made.  Once Tier I entitlements and the district’s M&O rates are calculated, they are compared to the minimum and maximum revenue hold harmless levels.  Depending on the dollar amount, the district will receive a difference in funding, get to keep all of its revenue, or have its funding reduced.  District 2 receives more funding because they have more staff receiving the minimum salaries and receive additional allotments for each.  Current formulas for funding do not allow for equal access to academic success. The districts above have the same tax rate, and approximately the same numbers of students but differ greatly in property values and funding.  

This is a great example of how complicated public school funding can be.  It is interesting to see how two districts with almost equal numbers of students differ so greatly. The relevant argument is that district 1 should receive more money but one could also argue that when considering the total M&O collections (1:$1,369,340 and 2:$35,879,109) district 2 is being penalized by the state for its wealth.  That is an argument of fairness and not of equity.  There is sufficient evidence to support the reorganization of state funding allotments where public education is concerned.