Education Finance is Still a Concern

School finance is an issue that is too big for just one blog. It's too big for one book. It's too big for one person to be able to explain, but I'll do my best.

The tradition on school finance is that the Legislature waits until the state gets sued and then tweaks the system based on the ruling from the courts. However, the school finance system they created in House Bill 1, our current system, is so bad that the Legislature is likely going to be proactive and try to fix the obvious flaws in the system.

The biggest flaw in the current funding system is the so-called Target Revenue per WADA that each district was assigned. In clearer terms, each district is assigned a revenue value for its daily attendance and receives funding based on its Target Revenue and enrollment. In mathematical terms, the equation is:

Target Revenue * WADA Enrollment = Revenue

The problem is that each district has a unique Target Revenue, and the target revenues vary widely from district to district. It's sad to say that Westphalia ISD ranks 5th lowest out of 1,025 districts in the state in Target Revenue per WADA! Westphalia ISD has a target revenue per WADA of $3,990. Compare that Rosebud-Lott ISD, our neighbor to the east, which has a target revenue of $4,321. Using the above equation, that means that 10 students in WISD generates $39,900 and 10 at RLISD generate $43,210, a difference of $3,310. If you take into account that an average class size is 20 students, that is over $6,600 more revenue per classroom in RL than in Westphalia. For a school of 150 students (which is what we have in WISD) that is almost $50,000.

The sad thing is that RL is not even close to the state average ($5,076 per student) or the median ($4,781 per student). Compare Westphalia to Rogers ISD ($4,634), Belton ISD ($4,804), Bremond ISD ($7,479), or the highest district in the state, Westbrook ISD ($12,725), it becomes clear that the funding system is inadequate. If Westphalia ISD had the state average in Target Revenue per WADA, we would generate an addtional $270,000 per year!!! Imagine the great things that could be done with that much additional revenue.

Something needs to be done. Is it equitable that a student in Dallas or Houston or even in other districts in Falls County generates more revenue for a district than a student in Westphalia? If we're going to base school funding on enrollment, shouldn't all students be able to generate the same revenue?

These are the questions that the Legislature will have to answer. I hope they are able to come up with a system that provides adequately for all students. We are not asking for much. Just the ability to provide students with the education they deserve.