BY MATT DULIN, RICE UNIVERSITY KINDER INSTITUTE FOR URBAN RESEARCH
About 1 in 5 school districts in Texas are severely underfunded, a status associated with lower student achievement ratings, according to a new study by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
“Our research shows that reducing the funding gaps in Texas’ most severely underfunded school districts would lead to significantly better chances of improving their Texas Education Agency ratings,” said Kinder Institute Director Ruth N. López Turley. “The research does not suggest that more money alone would make schools perform better but finds that there is a statistical ‘floor’ where below a certain level, higher ratings are much less attainable.”
Overall, about 3 out of 4 school districts are underfunded to some degree, according to the Kinder Institute analysis, but researchers found that a district is much less likely to earn an A or B student achievement rating when funding gaps exceed 40% of the adequate level. The reverse was also true: School districts with smaller gaps were more likely to have higher ratings.
The study classified 171 Texas school districts with funding gaps exceeding 40% as “severely underfunded” based on estimates provided by theSchool Finance Indicators Database.
To bring these districts to a funding level that is more closely associated with higher TEA ratings (within 35% of the adequate level), the Kinder Institute estimates the state would need to allocate an additional $9.3 billion annually to the neediest districts, which serve about 1.8 million students total.
In the Houston area, Houston Independent School District along with the Aldine, Alief, Pasadena, Spring Branch and Spring ISDs are all considered severely underfunded, among others.
A full list is available in the report, “Texas School District Funding Gaps,” co-authored by Turley and Bradley Selsberg, a research analyst with the Kinder Institute.