In this research brief, Houston Education Research Consortium researchers examine Houston ISD's general fund budgeting strategy to see how much money schools received and how they were used during the 1999-2000 through 2015-2016 school years.
Key findings include:
- Middle schools and high schools had larger total general fund budgets and more per-student spending than elementary schools.
- Small schools had higher per-student spending than non-small schools, even though their total general fund budgets were not different.
- Schools with a higher proportion of economically disadvantaged students had larger total general fund budgets while having slightly lower per-student spending.
- Enrollment size was the best predictor of key personnel at a school, with larger schools being more likely to have assistant principals, counselors, nurses and librarians.
This brief is the final part of a larger study that addresses four topics — the history of decentralization, the satisfaction and attitudes towards the current model, the impact on students and, finally, the impact on funding equity — related to decentralization in Houston ISD.
Photo: Santi Vedrí/Unsplash
