WEEK+1


 * Welcome to Group 3's Wiki Page for EDLD 5342 School Finance **

WEEK 1

__**PART 1: **__

I really enjoyed this first lecture by Dr. Nick’s. The information was very interesting about the history of school finance. It has helped in understanding how the development of school systems occurred. There were 3 main events in the lecture that stood out to me.

1. My first choice for a major event was Mirabeau B. Lamar established public land grants to help fund and build our public school system. I am not originally from Texas so it was interesting to learn about how he is credited s being the Father of Texas Education because he was the driving force behind this movement to establish and partial fund public schools in Texas. I think this is the biggest event in the historical background of Texas school finance because it the beginning of Texas Educational System. Furthermore, without Lamar pushing for these land grants to establish public schools in each county and two major universities we would be way behind. Hence the reason why he has a university named after him.

2.My second choice for a major event in Texas school finance is the Gilmer-Aiken Act of 1949. This act established the Minimum Foundations Program in which funding for education comes from both state and local sources. This was the first comprehensive framework for our school finance system.

3. My third choice for a major event was the “Robin Hood Plan” This plan was signed into a law by Governor Ann Richards. The wealth of property wealth districts would be assisting in helping the property poor districts. This has aided in giving all students the same opportunities to learn and resources. There were many key elements of revenue recapture. Both property rich and property poor district were involved pushing for equality in funding.

__**PART 2:** __

Personally, The Texas State Formula can be confusing and difficult to understand at times. Texas distributes funding to school districts through a system of formulas and calculations that collectively are known as the Foundations School Program. They are divided to two tiers Below are three basic issues impacting the state formula and along with reasons.


 * 1) Tier one formulas are comprised of adjustments, weights, and allotments. The tier gives a basic allotment and then weights for number of students. After the basic allotments are made then special programs come in a different weight depending on number of students. The special adjustments are in: special education, bilingual education, CATE, GT, compensatory education, and public education grants. The formula for giving out some of the funds is weighted to different degrees depending on the program.
 * 2) The Transportation Allotment is another area of concern for the state formula and budget. This is always a hot topic with school districts. Districts are requires to stay up to date with safety and regulation however the allotment for transportation hasn’t changed since 1984. The formula is determined using the linear density formula. Students must be at school to learn and if the transportation department isn’t able to keep up with the times then there is an issue that needs to be addressed.
 * 3) The third issue is the balance of the three budgets. After listening to the lectures and the reading the glossary it must be big task. When you are looking at balancing and funding for different programs: general funds, special programs funds, and state comp. you have to think about formula that must need to be established to not have some districts with low success levels, high needs and risk not to receive an abundance of funds.

__**PART 3**:__


 * Equality – Every student has the same access to all programs. **

1. State funding for programs for all students

2. Local funding that is equal for each similar school regardless of their status; i.e., all elementary schools in the district get the same amount, etc.


 * Equity – A fair system that responds to the needs of the individual; i.e., state funding for special programs to meet the needs of all students. **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">1. Compensatory funds for low social economic students

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">2. WADA funding for different groups


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Adequacy – A school district that receives financial support sufficient to provide support for all programs and all students **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">1. Total allocation of the state foundation program; i.e., when teacher salaries are too low, when textbook prices go up, etc.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">2. Tier I portion of the funding formula’s basic allotment: the cost of education adjustment and the small district adjustment

__**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">PART 4: **__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I always find it interesting to see how other school districts work and their methods to

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">school improvement. This assignment required me to compare Austin ISD’s Improvement

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Plan with my own district’s improvement plan. While reading and reviewing the

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">two improvement plans, I noticed some major differences between the two

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">educational improvement plans. When I first reviewed Austin ISD plan, I noticed a large introduction section with a

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">incredible amount of detailed documentation with different charts and maps to

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">explain how Austin ISD develops and decides on their district goals. There was

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">a lot of information regarding their meetings and planning sessions. I know

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">that documentation is a key phrase in education but Austin ISD really does

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">supply documentation to support the needs for improvement. That is something I

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">will suggest we add to our district plan. When looking at my district

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">improvement plan, we are a small district with a basic plan and our plan is

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">nothing like Austin’s plan. They have a very large budget and I can see why

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">they are as detailed about the budget. They seem to be a budget oriented

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">district yet the plan gave more of a general overview of where the money was placed.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">When I look at some of the goals from the meeting documentation they tend the

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">plan seems to tie in the budget and justifies reasons for allocating money in

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">different funds. Some I was proud to say was our district had some

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">similarities; we do have list similar to Austin appendix A and B. I believe

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">that because we are a smaller district we are able to have more targeted and

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">specific improvement goals versus the goals in the Austin plan. Overall the

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Austin Plan has lots of information and documentation however some of their

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">goals are not as specific and detailed as my district’s plan. Which I feel is

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">partly due to size. I think that there are some items from the Austin plan that

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">I would like to suggest for our district plan but I truly feel like as a district

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">we do a good job of establishing and meeting our improvement goals. I think you

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">have to balance between being budget oriented and goal oriented. I hope to use

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">some of what I have learned when updating our improvement plan.