All students deserve to go to excellent, well-funded schools.
Policies that base funding on community wealth and ignore the real costs of educating all students hurt everyone, especially students of color, students from families with limited incomes, and students who require additional programs, supports and services.
Learn more about IDRA’s work to build safe and welcoming schools for all students below.
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Since its founding, IDRA has worked to make sure schools are funded fairly. Unfortunately, we continue to have funding systems that benefit some students more than others. Students who live in communities that are able to raise a lot of money through property taxes often have more resources for school buildings, high-quality teachers, counselors and learning materials. Their fellow students who live in poorer districts – because of a history of racial segregation and intentionally harmful housing and economic policies – do not have access to the same important resources.
IDRA supports families, communities, and students – particularly students from families with limited incomes, students of color, English learners, and others – who demand access to great, well-funded schools. We advocate sustainable policies that accurately identify the cost of education for all students and fund all schools fairly.
Learn more about IDRA’s policy recommendations for Texas.
Resources
Changing Policy
HB 59 Strips Schools of the Local Funding They Need for Equitable and Adequate Education – IDRA Testimony against House Bill 59, Submitted by Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., before House Ways & Means Committee, April 12, 2021
Educational Institutions Need Protected State Funding – IDRA comments by Dr. Chloe Latham Sikes submitted to House Appropriations, Re: Public Education and Higher Education; and to Senate Finance, Re: Public Education and Higher Education, February 22, 2021
Texas Must Fulfill its Funding Promises to Public Schools – IDRA Policy Priorities for Texas Legislative Session (English) • (Español), December 17, 2020
IDRA Principles of Fair Funding for the Common Good
Hispanic Education Coalition Outlines Federal Appropriations Priorities for Fiscal Year 2021: U.S. House • U.S. Senate
Summary of Texas School Finance Reforms: 2019
Testimony: Ensuring Equity and a Meaningful Education for All Students
Acting on Research and Data
Summary of Model School Finance Legislation
Infographic: Texas State Divestment of Education
Policy Brief: Fair and Essential Education Funding Requires State Investment
White Paper: The Cost of Inequity in Education
Book: Texas School Finance Reform: An IDRA Perspective
Engaging Communities
Joint Testimony by the Texas Postsecondary Advocates Coalition (PAC): Texas Interim Charge 4, Questions 1, 4, 6: Digital Divide, September 1, 2020
Coalition Letter to State Leaders About Investing in Education
IDRA’s Texas School Finance news dashboard
Communicating Effectively
Why Some San Antonio Students Want an End to School Policing, by Camille Phillips, Texas Public Radio, July 9, 2020
Podcast: A History of School Funding in Texas
Op-ed: No Place for Complacency in Educating Poor Children
