Fixing School Finance

Texans across the state and across the political divide agree: public school funding needs fixing. What that means exactly, however, is tricky. In Part 1, Texas State Representative Donna Howard explains the school finance conundrum and its evolution over the years, along with some potential solutions floating around the legislature. In Part 2, political consultant Kolby Monnig argues that citizens must influence education laws by communicating with their representatives, and she demystifies that process. Lastly, in Part 3, educators, school support personnel, and unions rally for K-12 education reforms across the board. Related to this episode: • Representative Donna Howard: https://house.texas.gov/members/member-page/?district=48 • Donna Howard’s infographic on Texas school finance, on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/texansforchange/photos/pcb.2262081777448971/2262081220782360/?type=3&theater • Liar’s affidavit: https://www.dontmesswithtaxes.com/2006/10/new_liars_affid.html • Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) “rainy day” fund: https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2016/september/rainy-day.php • Texas Standard article on a first public proposal for how to reform school finance, from March 8th, 2019: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/03/08/texas-senate-files-its-version-school-finance-reform-bill/ • Kolby Monnig (@blueoceantx), Blue Ocean Consulting: https://blueoceantx.com/ • Copper pennies: https://www.texastribune.org/2011/03/31/how-to-navigate-texas-school-finance-system/ • Who Represents Me? https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/home • Texas Teacher Retirement System: https://www.trs.texas.gov/Pages/Homepage.aspx • Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/ • Rally for Texas education funding on March 11, 2019: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190311/hundreds-of-texas-teachers-rally-at-capitol-for-funding-against-merit-pay • Project Vida: https://www.pvida.net/ Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.