Matthew Joseph is a Senior Policy Advisor at ExcelinEd.
Texas and Tennessee are addressing long-standing barriers to effective use of state resources by local school districts, providing two strong examples of maximizing impact to help students.
Texas is using funding strategies to drive innovation and shift the focus to improved outcomes instead of inputs, giving districts greater funding flexibility as long as they produce results. Thanks to recent policy changes, districts are receiving $3,000 for each student who graduates college, career or military ready. Success with an economically disadvantaged student means $2,000 more, and another $2,000 is added for students with disabilities.
“It has been a game changer for our district,” said Dr. LaTonya Goffney, superintendent of Aldine Independent School District. “Before, we were waiting too late. Different people owned different parts of the work. Now, we are using live data to determine what is working and what isn’t at each campus and to intervene earlier. We have streamlined our vision and coordinated our approach.”
This performance funding strategy was a critical part of HB 3, legislation that made major changes to how Texas funds its schools.
“Linking some money to student outcomes was critical to securing bipartisan support for overall school funding reform in the Texas Legislature,” said State Representative Dan Huberty, who is the former chair of the House Committee on Public Education.
Tennessee is using the influx of federal COVID emergency funds for education to focus on strategies to improve the state’s education funding system that had already identified in the state’s strategic plan.
Leading by example, the state is making it easier for districts to invest in the evidence-based strategies they need most. Fund-matching requirements and public-private partnerships are being used to multiply local district investments to help their students.
“Tennessee is demonstrating a bold way to leverage federal funds to improve the way education is funded and lean into evidence-based initiatives that can create better outcomes for students,” says Patricia Levesque, CEO of ExcelinEd.
