Reflection on the History of Texas School Finance

I have been employed in my current school district for 10 years and as an administrator, I have been required to attend school board meetings regularly. Much of the discussion in a high percentage of the meetings has touched on the status of school finance in Texas so I have been familiar with a lot of the terms covered in this week’s lecture and readings. But having the historical perspective laid out in such linear way has really helped me understand the issue better. Knowing where we started, where we have been, where we might be headed, and how leaders have effected change in the system of school finance in Texas helps us learn how we must proceed on a path toward a fair system of finance that provides equality, equity, and adequacy for students across the state. Not wanting to be influenced by the opinions and reflections of others, I was sure to complete the readings and review the lectures completely before I composed my responses. I was struck with the similarity of my responses to those of others in the cohort. Dufour tells us that providing groups of people with the same base of information will increase the likelihood that those people will come to consensus. If only our legislators were reading what we are reading...