In my last blog, "How To Pave A Path For A Broken Future," I talked about the importance of fixing the public education system. I know it is easy to point our about problems, but that doesn't bring us any closer to fixing the problem.
The biggest problem I see with the Texas public school system is that schools are not equally funded. This indirectly perpetuates a cycle of poverty. There have been many attempts to fix the funding discrepancy, like the Robin Hood plan. This plan redistributed funding between well-funded districts and poorly-funded districts. So instead of having an efficient, well-funded district, and an underfunded-district, we are left with two almost funded districts, and more kids suffering from inadequately-funded schools.
The best way to fix this funding discrepancy is to adjust the way we fund schools. The first major task is to asses the state of each of the Texas schools, and determine the cost of just getting the facilities updated. Next is reallocating state funds. Let's start with the national average of $11,392, although the Texas average is currently a few thousand under it. Schools would be funded that amount per student. First funded by local property taxes, and the rest would be met by the state government. That is the way Massachusetts funds its public school system, and it is currently ranked #1 int he nation for its schools.
Another way to help assist with funding schools is abolishing standardized testing. It has been proven that these tests do not improve the quality of education, and in fact, sometimes hinders it. I was unable to find an exact number of how much Texas spends on standardized testing, but it is estimated that they spend about 68.6 million annually. That money could be used to directly fund education instead of hinder it.
The biggest problem I see with the Texas public school system is that schools are not equally funded. This indirectly perpetuates a cycle of poverty. There have been many attempts to fix the funding discrepancy, like the Robin Hood plan. This plan redistributed funding between well-funded districts and poorly-funded districts. So instead of having an efficient, well-funded district, and an underfunded-district, we are left with two almost funded districts, and more kids suffering from inadequately-funded schools.
The best way to fix this funding discrepancy is to adjust the way we fund schools. The first major task is to asses the state of each of the Texas schools, and determine the cost of just getting the facilities updated. Next is reallocating state funds. Let's start with the national average of $11,392, although the Texas average is currently a few thousand under it. Schools would be funded that amount per student. First funded by local property taxes, and the rest would be met by the state government. That is the way Massachusetts funds its public school system, and it is currently ranked #1 int he nation for its schools.
Another way to help assist with funding schools is abolishing standardized testing. It has been proven that these tests do not improve the quality of education, and in fact, sometimes hinders it. I was unable to find an exact number of how much Texas spends on standardized testing, but it is estimated that they spend about 68.6 million annually. That money could be used to directly fund education instead of hinder it.
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