Vance Ginn Economics
  • Home
  • About
  • CV
  • Media
  • Podcast/Speeches
  • Blog/Research
  • Research
  • Teaching
    • ECON 2301-Princ of Macro
    • ECON 2302-Princ of Micro
    • ECON 3352-Energy Eco
  • Home
  • About
  • CV
  • Media
  • Podcast/Speeches
  • Blog/Research
  • Research
  • Teaching
    • ECON 2301-Princ of Macro
    • ECON 2302-Princ of Micro
    • ECON 3352-Energy Eco

Texans Deserve a Better Deal on Education

2/5/2018

 
Picture
​This content was originally featured in the Houston Chronicle on February 5, 2018. 

Students across Texas enjoyed a rare snow day - or even two - last week, as ice and snow kept campuses closed from Houston to Tyler to Austin. For most, it was a welcome break, though they knew there would be work to make up when they return.

One critical topic they'll need to address is education.

Although most of the debate has centered on how much money has been or should be spent, the focus should not be on taxpayer dollars spent, but on how to spend that money equitably and effectively. The facts show that Texans need more education for their money, not more money for education.

Texans can prosper by revamping the school finance system through education freedom, not by pouring more money into a broken system. Student-centered funding will ensure that dollars flow to the child and the classroom, not to bureaucratic bloat and infrastructure.

Critics say, as they have always said, that we must spend more. They even contend that Texas has cut funding for public education.

But when the dollars are adjusted for inflation, we see that Texas spends billions more on public education now, on a per-student basis, than the 2004-2005 school year. In fact, education spending is on the rise.

Critics often point to a couple of years - 2008 to 2010 - to show that the Legislature has "cut" school funding. But that's misleading.

It's true that per-student spending was higher, but that was because of a massive, one-time infusion of funding from the federal stimulus bill – the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

School district budgets in 2008 also benefited from another phenomenon.

Following a Texas Supreme Court ruling that declared the school finance system unconstitutional, lawmakers enacted a new business margins tax to pay for a reduction in property taxes. But any relief that Texas property owners saw from that cut was short-lived, as appraisals kept their tax bills high.

And that's why it's disingenuous to use 2008 - a high-water mark for education spending in Texas - as the standard. A broader view shows that Texas is spending $23.4 billion more for education than it was in 2004-2005.

But are we getting sufficient education for our money? The evidence says we are not, and the reason is clear. Education spending in Texas is not focused on the students; it's focused on the school system.

In the 2015-16 school year, for example, Texans spent $12,257 per student, with a standard classroom of 20 students receiving roughly $245,000. But teachers - the biggest factor in the quality of education - received only 21 percent of that per-classroom expenditure. The average teacher salary was $51,891.

Where did the money go? In large part, it went to administration.

Since 1993, the number of students in Texas has increased by 48 percent, while the number of staff has increased by 61 percent. Yet the number of administrators and other staff employees, not including teachers, has increased by 66 percent. Our public schools grew rapidly, but their administrations grew more rapidly still.

One study shows that if school districts had kept the growth of non-teaching staff to the same rate as the increase in students, Texas' public education system could have saved $2.2 billion annually or increased each teacher's benefits by $6,318.

What's the solution? We must refocus Texas education on the consumers - students and their families.

The courts have consistently found that Texas education is inequitable on a per-student basis. So that's what our approach should be - equity for students. We should move to student-centered funding, which lets money follow the student and allows parents to decide the best way to meet their children's needs.

Last year, the Legislature created the Texas Commission on Public School Finance. That group has the opportunity to recommend real reform - increasing educational freedom through a student-centered funding model, the kind that research shows will improve educational outcomes.

And when lawmakers are called back from their long break, they'll have the opportunity to make these reforms real, for the benefit of Texas.

​https://www.texaspolicy.com/blog/detail/texans-deserve-a-better-deal-on-education

Comments are closed.

    Vance Ginn, Ph.D.
    Chief Economist
    ​TPPF
    ​#LetPeopleProsper

    Vance Ginn, Ph.D., is founder and president of Ginn Economic Consulting, LLC. He is chief economist at Pelican Institute for Public Policy and senior fellow at Young Americans for Liberty and other institutions. He previously served as the associate director for economic policy of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, 2019-20.

    Follow him on Twitter: @vanceginn

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    January 2015
    November 2013
    September 2013
    May 2013
    February 2013
    August 2012
    July 2012
    January 2012
    May 2011
    April 2011

    Categories

    All
    Biden
    Book Reviews
    Budgets
    Capitalism
    Carbon Tax
    Congress
    COVID
    Debt
    Economic Freedom
    Economic Prosperity
    Economy
    Education
    Energy Markets
    Fed
    Free Trade
    Ginn Economic Brief
    Healthcare
    Immigration
    Inflation
    Interview
    Jobs Report
    Let People Prosper
    Licensing
    Louisiana
    Margin Tax
    Medicaid
    Minimum Wage
    Occupational Licensing
    Opportunity Project
    Pensions
    Podcast
    Poverty
    Property Taxes
    RAB
    Regulation
    Rules
    School Choice
    Socialism
    Spending Limits
    Taxes
    Tax Foundation
    Testimony
    Texas
    Transparency
    Video
    White House

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly