| Texas public school funding has been an issue of debate for many years. Funding equity came to the forefront with the passage of Texas House Bill 3646 in 2009. This new system of funding amended the target revenue amount for each school district. The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not Texas House Bill 3646 resulted in the improvement of school funding equity as measured on a per-pupil basis. Would Texas House Bill 3646, in effect, provide a level of improvement to funding equity on a per-pupil basis? The target revenue that was examined was at the compressed rate and excluded enrichment taxes.;This study measured the overall level of equity that existed under the last year of funding under House Bill 1 and compared it to the measure of equity as it existed under the first year of the new funding plan, House Bill 3646. The two measurements were then compared to see if the new funding plan had, in effect, improved the level of funding equity in the Texas public school system on a per-pupil basis.;Four tests of equity were used to measure the level of improvement in the Texas public school funding system. This study used the statistical measurements of the Coefficient of Variation, the Verstegen Index, the McLoone Index, and the Gini Coefficient. Using the Gini Coefficient and Coefficient of Variation, the researcher was able to make observations of the total population. Observations were also made of the bottom 50% using the McLoone Index and the top 50% using the Verstegen Index. In addition, the same equity statistics were applied to a purposeful sample that consisted of the top 12% and the bottom 12% of the total distribution. Texas House Bill 3646 did not improve school funding equity in Texas. |
