Fighting state on school funding may be too expensive for Mission district
MISSION — Painful state budget cuts have left Mission schools in a legal pickle, possibly preventing the district from joining a growing lawsuit against the Texas school finance system.
At a meeting Wednesday, the school board tabled a vote to commit about $20,000 in support of a lawsuit filed Monday by the Texas Taxpayer and Fairness Coalition, a group hoping to overturn school funding formulas that it claims inequitably values students across the state.
More than 200 districts have joined that litigation, including Pharr-San Juan-Alamo, Lyford and Lasara.
And though Mission wants to stand in solidarity with them, board President James Olivarez said, staggering public education cuts may have bound the district’s purse strings.
“We already started doing more with little,” he said, “and now we’re being asked to do even more with even less.
“Clearly we feel we’re not being treated fairly as opposed to the richer school districts,” Olivarez added. “But $20,000 is a lot of money right now for the district.”
According to the Equity Center, a lobbyist group for property-poor districts that has led the lawsuit coalition, lawmakers this summer left Missions schools with $5,125 per weighted average daily attendance. Also known as WADA, that calculation bases per pupil funding on the number of students in bilingual, gifted and talented, special education and other programs.
However, despite having nearly the same WADA and tax rate, the Hays school district near Kyle will draw $5,748 per WADA, the Equity Center calculates.
The difference in Hays and Mission’s per WADA funding translates to a nearly $8 million disparity, requiring Mission teachers to reach the same academic standards with significantly less money.
And in a property-rich district like Alamo Heights in San Antonio, wealthier families’ schools collect $6,240 per WADA, more than $1,000 above Mission’s rate.
“Working together and standing in strong numbers speaks volumes,” said Mission trustee Patty O’Caña-Olivarez. “The only reservation is the price tag is a little stiff.
“We’re just cautious with what little money we have now.”
Nonetheless, even if she and the board decline to join the coalition when it reconsiders the motion next month, a court ruling in favor of property-poor districts will benefit Mission schools.
O’Caña-Olivarez said it would essentially be a “free ride” for every district fighting for financial fairness.
“The positive results that come from this litigation will benefit everyone,” she said. “And if we can do it, we’ll find the money.”
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Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4472.
