Browsing by Subject "Educational change -- Texas"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item An analysis of expenditure patterns in Texas public school districts before and after the 1984 school finance reform(Texas Tech University, 1992-12) Miller, Ronald GlenThe research agenda in school finance has moved from equity concerns to concerns about how to finance education to improve its quality. At issue again are questions of which resources, if any, affect learning and how should schools and school personnel be held accountable for the results of schooling. A new research agenda begins with the observation that the states have increased their levels of funding for schools beginning about 1984. There is scant evidence of how that new money has been spent. The purpose of this study was to examine what the differences in per pupil expenditures eimong Texas public schools mean in terms of the resources provided to students. Specifically, the focus concentrated on a comparison of expenditure patterns of Texas school districts categorized by local wealth before and after the 1984 school finance reform legislation. This study was restricted to the data collected for the following school years: 1983-84, 1984-85, and 1989-90. To study how districts with different wealth levels chose to spend their available funds, the 1,052 public school districts in Texas were grouped according to their assessed valuation: rich, middle, and poor. These three types of districts were compared by determining their expenditures or spending levels by object as specified by Bulletin 679 Financial Accounting Manual required for use by Texas school districts. Results of this study indicated that the school districts by 1989-90 had spent more per student for purchased and contracted services and supplies and materials than they had before House Bill 72 became a reality. Payroll costs continued to be the largest expenditure object area. Capital outlay costs became a smaller part of the expenditures. Other operating costs and debt service expenditures continued to take up a smaller proportion of the total expenditures. Further analysis indicated that the middle school districts spend more per student than the rich and poor school districts in the object areas of purchased and contracted services, supplies and materials, other operating expenses, and debt service. The poor school districts expended more of their monies in payroll costs, while the rich school districts lead in spending in the capital outlay object area.Item The modernization of Texas public schools: World War II and the Gilmer-Aikin laws(Texas Tech University, 2004-08) Preuss, Gene BWorld War II focused people's attention on preserving Democracy, building a stronger military, and opposing radicalism. Public education presented a conduit to accomplish these goals. The war also created a stronger federal presence and infrastructure within the states, including better transportation and communication, which made educational changes possible. After the war, Texas took part in a national effort to reorganize its public school system to meet what reformers perceived to be the needs of the nation, which included greater efficiency, a reduction in segregation, increased standardization and professionalism of teachers. Rural schools were especially targeted as isolated, inefficient, and ineffective. Texas' Fifty-First Legislature passed the Gilmer-Aikin laws in 1949 to meet these goals. The dissertation will explain how the Gilmer-Aikin laws evolved from concerns educators, reformers, politicians and the public had about the Texas public school system after World War II. It will also explore the changes in national expectations for public schools, and the changes in racial attitudes after the war. The study will also address other changes urged by Texas educators, reformers, and politicians throughout the state's history