Issue Summary: Equity and Adequacy
People tend to agree that education is important. We know that having an informed society produces benefits beyond the classroom. Politicians and scholars alike understand how crucial it is to prepare students for the 21st century through training or higher education. However, one of the most complex debates throughout educational history is how to compensate schools and districts that are underfunded. Although advocates have stressed the need for reform, none have seen longevity. Walters, Robinson, and Lamber (2011) explain that some reforms fail because “an initiative to create greater equality in school resources will threaten the easy access children in resource-rich districts have to public schools” (p. 33). As a result, restructuring is met with political opposition.
As that may be, quality teachers and services are a necessity which require money. But with Texas having large school districts, the process of dividing money from the federal and state level is complicated. To determine the amount each district needs, figures such as average daily attendance, basic allotment, compressed tax rate, cost of education index, and size adjustments are calculated to produce the adjusted allotment (Barba, Ginn, Grusendorf, Heflin, 2016).
