Texas School Finance Summit at TPPF Discusses Education Spending, Funding, and Reforms

The Texas School Finance Summit was recently hosed by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texans for Education Opportunity, EdChoice and Reason Foundation.

The purpose of the event included the following: To provide students with a 21st century education, Texas needs to modernize its broken school finance system. As the state’s school finance commission prepares to convene, now is the time to begin looking forward to the future of education funding in Texas.

Here are links to a video of each panel with a list of panelists: 

• Which Education System Would Best Serve Texans? (Discussion about different education systems and paths toward reform)
  • Tim Lambert, Chair, Texas Home School Coalition 
  • Jonathan Butcher, Senior Policy Analyst, Education Policy, Heritage Foundation
  • Laura Colangelo, Executive Director, Texas Private Schools Association
  • Marian Wallace, Education Policy Advisor for Lt. Governor Dan Patrick
  • Moderator: Dr. Kevin Roberts, Executive Vice President, TPPF

 

• Lunch Panel 
  • Stacy Hock, Chair, Texans for Education Opportunity
  • Aaron Smith, Education Policy Analyst, Reason Foundation

 

• Are Texans Getting Their Education Money’s Worth? (Discussion about current public education spending, inefficiencies, and achieving student-centered funding)
  • Sen. Larry Taylor, Chairman, Texas Senate Education Committee
  • Michael Barba, Associate Director of Public Policy, Texas Catholic Conference
  • Dr. Benjamin Scafidi, Director of Education Economics Center, Kennesaw State University
  • Stephanie Matthews, Director of Center for Economic Freedom, TPPF
  • Moderator: Lisa Snell, Director of Education and Child Welfare, Reason Foundation

 

• Which Education Funding Source Best Supports Texans’ Prosperity? (Discussion about which tax system would best fund education and local governments)
  • Rep. Tom Oliverson, Texas House of Representatives
  • Rep. Andrew Murr, Texas House of Representatives
  • Dr. Dean Stansel, Research Associate Professor, O’Neil Center for Global Markets Freedom at SMU
  • Dr. Vance Ginn, Director of Center for Economic Prosperity, TPPF 
  • Moderator: Honorable Chuck DeVore, VP of National Initiatives, TPPF