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Partnership Principles for School Finance Reform

Published Feb 20, 2019 by Ben Melson

Texas children, who are the foundation of our future workforce, need a quality education. Improving student achievement starts with how our state finances public education. The Legislature has not updated the complex school finance formula system since 1993, and past Legislatures have failed to effectively and adequately address changing student demographics, the growing burden of recapture, and long-term workforce needs of our state and the Greater Houston region.

The Partnership and Houston business community have studied the school finance system and established reform as one of the Partnership's top executive priorities this session. The Partnership's public school finance white paper is available here.

After studying the school finance system, the Partnership adopted a set of principles for reform. This session, the Legislature has the opportunity to target funding to high-quality programs for high-needs students:
 

  • Additional funding should be allocated through the formula system to ensure sustainability.
     
    • Prioritize weighted funding for low-income and English language learner students.
    • Prioritize funding for early education with an emphasis on programs that increase the reading proficiency of students by third grade.
    • Prioritize funding to increase pay for the best teachers and incentivize the best teachers to teach in the lowest performing schools.
       
  • Equitably reduce the burden of recapture and increase the state's share of education funding.

 

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