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Previous research indicates that the academic performance of minority students improves when school faculties include minority teachers. This research addresses this issue using data from some 540 school districts & 668 campuses in TX. It finds that the greater the shortfall between the district/campus % of minority teachers & the district/campus % of minority students, the lower the % of district/campus minority students passing the state achievement test. When controls are entered for the rate of increase in minority student percentage, this association disappears for Hispanic students but not for African American students. 2 Tables, 15 References. Adapted from the source document.

In 1984, the Texas state legislature passed House Bill 72, which was meant, among other things, to make public school finance among school districts in the state more equitable. The legislation added a billion dollars to state educational funds and created redistributive mechanisms for allocating state aid. In spite of these significant efforts, finances among the districts are found not to have been substantially equalized. This article argues that the barrier to equalization lies in the division of educational funding between the state and the local districts, and the failure to dismantle the local reliance upon the property tax. Data are presented to demonstrate the tendency of wealthy school districts to increase local expenditures when confronted with redistributive programs at the state level. Further analysis indicates the persistence of local property wealth as the best single indicator of district expenditures.

IN 1984, THE TEXAS STATE LEGISLATURE PASSED HOUSE BILL 72, WHICH WAS MEANT, AMONG OTHER THINGS, TO MAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE AMONG SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE STATE MORE EQUITABLE. THE LEGISLATION ADDED A BILLION DOLLARS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL FUNDS AND CREATED REDISTRIBUTIVE MECHANISMS FOR ALLOCATING STATE AID. IN SPITE OF THESE SIGNIFICANT EFFORTS, FINANCES AMONG THE DISTRICTS ARE FOUND NOT TO HAVE BEEN SUBSTANTIALLY EQUALIZED. THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT THE BARRIER TO EQUALIZATION LIES IN THE DIVISION OF EDUCATIONAL FUNDING BETWEEN THE STATE AND THE LOCAL DISTRICTS, AND THE FAILURE TO DISMANTLE THE LOCAL RELIANCE UPON THE PROPERTY TAX. DATA ARE PRESENTED TO DEMONSTRATE THE TENDENCY OF WEALTHY SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO INCREASE LOCAL EXPENDITURES WHEN CONFRONTED WITH REDISTRIBUTIVE PROGRAMS AT THE STATE LEVEL. FURTHER ANALYSIS INDICATES THE PERSISTENCE OF LOCAL PROPERTY WEALTH AS THE BEST SINGLE INDICATOR OF DISTRICT EXPENDITURES.

Argues that any policy that fails to dismantle local reliance upon property tax will fail to equalize interdistrict public educational finance.

Proponents of charter schools credit them with many advantages over traditional schools. One claim is that school choice yields increased parental participation in voluntary school activities—which we shall call education‐related social capital. In this article we test for the independent effect of school choice on education‐related social capital, controlling for general social capital and other potentially confounding variables. Studies of school choice invariably show that choosing parents have a greater level of general social capital than non‐choosing parents. Consequently, any increase in education‐related social capital could be spurious—due to the fact that choice parents start with atypically high levels of general social capital. We find under controlled conditions that school choice has a small but statistically significant effect on education‐related social capital. However, its effect is considerably smaller than for general social capital, as well as for other traditional predictors such as parental education and the school‐related home resources that parents may provide.