ISN’T IT ABOUT TIME FOR an A+ school financing solution?
Governor Rick Perry wants us to believe that the State of Texas spends more than enough on education, and a recent study from his alma mater seems to support his claim. This study reports that “the average minimum funding level needed to meet state performance standards is about $6,200 per student,” a figure less than the state’s current average spending level of $6,500. The governor believes that the level of spending is more than adequate – we just need to find a more constitutional method of handing it out. The problem with these voodoo economics is that the current reported $6,500 spending level per student is not the actual cost of educating individual children in Texas.
Not every student receives $6,500 worth of an education, or even $6,200. Some receive far less, while others receive far more. The state must provide an education to all students, yet all students are not educated equally. Our system does not divide up the number of students in Texas by the amount of budgeted funding, some $27 billion according to a recent report, and provide that amount to each school district based on its enrollment.
Children’s education costs are as unique as the children themselves. Some require additional facilities, some require an aide and a teacher, some require a pull-out programs for learning disabilities – all of these extras are deducted from one child’s funding and added to another’s. The figure is misleading from the start, because your child might receive less while your neighbor’s child receives far more.
The other troubling detail that statistics such as this one omit is what type of education that reported student average amount buys. According to a recent report in the Dallas Morning News, “that amount is intended to educate 55 percent of Texas students to the minimal performance level on state tests.” Now I don’t know about you, but to me 55 percent of 100 is a failure. And I don’t think minimum performance is much of a goal standard either.
So, if your child is lucky enough to receive that $6,500, which might be way less in your case depending on the spending levels the other children in the state require, you have a 50-50 chance that he or she will achieve a barely passing grade on the annual achievement test. Does that sound like an exemplary system to you? Feel like you’re getting your money’s worth?
Politicians in Texas need to realize that their legislative report card has an “F” for school funding reform. Current education funding and achievement standards leave 45 percent of Texas students behind because the program is not dedicated to providing teachers with the resources they need to achieve even average performance on yearly achievement tests. Blaming educators for the debacle only adds insult to injury – how can we expect them to achieve superior results when high standards in funding and goal-setting are nonexistent at the state level.
Legislators need to make some critical choices to improve the level of funding for our schools, and they need to learn that the most valuable constituent is the child who benefits, and not the lobby and business interests they often listen to instead. They need to eliminate the concepts of “slightly more than half” and “minimum performance” from the vocabulary when calculating cost and performance for Texas school children.
It’s time to flunk everyone in Austin who refuses to create a plan for excellence in Texas education. And it’s time to let Gov. Perry know that his mid-term academic progress report doesn’t make the grade.
