Finance 5342 Week 1

Group 4's Completed Part 1 (Robert Murray, Jeff Nations, Randall Nedrow, Marilyn Pace-White)

Historical Happenings in the Finance Aspect of Texas Education

We believe these are the three most important events in the historical background of financing education in Texas. First, we believe that the establishment of the Texas constitution was first most important event in Texas education. The importance of the 1845 constitution which, provided for the establishment of free schools and called for state taxes to support education. We also believe the 1876 Constitution established by name the Permanent and Available School Funds is as well equally important. These decisions lead to the facts that the founding fathers of Texas placed an emphasis on education and state support of the education system. The second historical event that we thought is important has to do with the court decisions centering on the Edgewood case. The interpretation of the court decisions from Edgewood, Rodriguez and West Orange Cove has greatly impacted how Texas funds education with respect to equity, adequate and equality. We believe that the third most that third most important event would be the passing of the Gilmer Aiken Laws. This law established an organized approach to the state supplementing local taxes in an attempt to adequately fund public education and we believe it surpasses the HB 1 because it created the opportunity for HB 1 to even exist. With the implementation of the Gilmer Aiken Law, it seems it became the catalyst for changes in school funding to be battled in the courtroom instead of the legislature.