Shelby County Today

January 6, 2015 - Superintendents from Joaquin, Shelbyville, Tenaha, Timpson and Excelsior discussed the impact of the funding level for small schools in Texas after a meeting with the Equity Center Executive Director, Dr. Wayne Pierce. Many of our funding levels and weights are underfunded, but why would the state purposely create a special formula just to penalize a group of districts? This question originated some 31 years ago and has continued with significate impact on our schools in Shelby County and another 463 statewide.

The Equity Center reported in an article that in only one case of which we are aware, has that actually happened when the state created two small school formulas. The small schools formula was meant to offset the diseconomy of scale costs associated with small schools size. Based on a modeling process that attempted to quantify how much more the cost per student increases as size decreases, the state created a small schools formula with a multiplier of .0004. Similar formulas are also included for mid-size schools in the state school formula and the CEI (Cost of Education Index) for larger districts.

There were those in the Legislature (31 years ago), however, who felt that some of these districts were “small by choice.” So, for districts that were less than 300 square miles in area (and arbitrary number) the state reduced the multiplier to .00025 (another arbitrary number). Altogether, a 37.5% reduction for which there was no study or cost basis – it was pulled out of thin air. The definition for over 30 years has been defined as a district that is less than 300 square miles and less than 1600 students funded at .00025 or a district that is greater than 300 square miles and less than 1600 students funded at .0004.

The openly stated intent was to “encourage” these districts to consolidate. But, because the school is often the center of the community and an essential part of maintaining the vitality of rural Texas, very few have chosen to consolidate.

For a district with 400 students covering an area of 301 square miles, the state recognizes an additional cost to offset the diseconomy of scale associated with a school of that size. But for their neighboring district of 400 students with only 299 square miles, the state provides for less than two-thirds of the additional cost.

This means fewer resources to offer quality science or career programs. It is likely that the better teachers in the second district will be lured away by higher salaries that the neighbor with greater funding can offer. It means that local taxpayers will have to pay significantly higher property tax rates to prevent these things from happening.

No one can fairly argue there was ever a legitimate reason to refuse funding at the cost it recognized as appropriate for geographically larger small districts. After all, communities do not choose to be small. They choose to have a local school!

In a day when the state is putting such an emphasis on charter schools, which are quite small, it appears the state would not want to retain a formula that punishes students in small schools.

People often talk about how long formulas have gone without being updated. But this is worse than simple neglect. This is a punishment of schoolchildren based on an outdated antipathy for what the state now champions in the form of charter schools – small by choice!

There are many broken parts of our school finance system. This is the most indefensible.
In Shelby County there are five schools that would benefit from funding at the .0004 multiplier.

Joaquin ISD – Annual increase from State funding - $718,008.00
Shelbyville ISD – Annual increase from State funding - $742,774.00
Tenaha ISD – Annual increase from State funding - $718,167.00
Timpson ISD – Annual increase from State funding - $754,566.00
Excelsior ISD – Annual increase from State funding - $141,425.00
Everyone is affected by this injustice and I ask you to call, write or email your State Senator and Representative and simply say “you support making the multiplier .0004 for all small schools in Texas”.

Please keep calling, writing or emailing your elected representatives until this injustice is corrected! You will make a difference if you become involved! The 84th Legislative session begins on January 13, 2015 Legislative website for Representatives and Senators - www.legis.state.tx.us