School district budgets differ in sources of funding

During the last academic school year, two Texas school districts of similar size, Lubbock Independent School District and Laredo Independent School District, operated on similar budgets. However the percentage of the budget the two school districts received from grants as well as local, state and federal funding were vastly differing.

Laredo ISD, located in south Texas near the US-Mexico border, operated on a $262 million budget and Lubbock ISD, located in west Texas, operated on a $208 million budget.

Berhl Robertson, superintendent of Lubbock ISD, explained that funding for school districts is a complex concept that takes various factors into account.

“It’s very complicated,” he said. “Typically it’s formula driven.”

These formulas were implemented in Texas in the early 1980s and have been used ever since. Norma Cantu, a professor with the University of Texas College of Education, explained that some of these formulas have not been updated since their original implementation even as inflation and other economic factors have taken hold.

“Some of the formulas were updated in the early 1990s,” she said. “But other formulas were unchanged from the early efforts.”

Federal funding is greatly affected by the socioeconomic makeup of the people who live within the boundaries of the school district. Lubbock ISD slightly surpasses Laredo ISD in number of students, edging their south Texas counterparts by 4,398 students. However, Laredo still receives more money from the federal government. Robertson said Lubbock has a lower level of poverty within the school district than Laredo, according to census data.

In Laredo ISD, 91.7 percent of students are labeled as economically disadvantaged, while Lubbock ISD has 65.9 percent of students that are economically disadvantaged. Robertson said these factors contribute to the discrepancy in funds the federal government gives the two districts, despite the gap in number of students.

President of the Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees, Dan Pope, stated he feels public school funding can be reformed and improved in the future.

“I don’t think it’s equitable, but I think that’s different from fair,” he said. “I think that the way that the state does public education funding still has a long way to go.”

According to The Texas Tribune, Laredo ISD is overwhelmingly populated with Hispanic students at 99.8 percent.

“In our district, 99 percent of our students come from Spanish-speaking families,” said Veronica Castillon, director of communications for Laredo Independent School District. “So we have to establish programs to help our students with their English language arts.”

The district received nearly $2 million from the federal government under the English Language Acquisition program. Lubbock ISD, comprised of 58 percent Hispanic students, only received $111,319 under the same program.

“It [funding] is based on the types of students you have, the type of city you’re in, the cost of education and your tax rates,” Robertson said.

Pope said that applying for grants is a way that school districts go about when trying to increase funding for their district.

“The other piece would be that we are active in the legislative process,” Pope said. “We try to make sure we talk about our needs and work with our elected officials.”