Twisted Saga of Texas School Finance

Four experienced Texas educators provide invaluable insight on what our state's education policymakers should prioritize this legislative session.

A nationally-recognized teacher talks about what keeps him in the classroom.

A teacher, principal, and education leader discusses the value and impact of locally-crafted multi-measure evaluation systems.

A veteran educator talks about how to consider "the whole child" in crafting education policy.

Only four out of ten Texas students can read by third grade. Education policymaker Kara Belew wants to change that.

Texas' political leadership has signaled that "school finance reform" will be the top priority of this year's legislative session. But what does that really mean? The Texas Commission on Public School Finance has provided a roadmap for effective legislation in their recently published final report. So we sat down with five of the thirteen members to discuss the recommendations, and what comes next for Texas.

In these divided times, one fact has brought together Texas Republicans, Democrats, teachers, administrators, and even state Supreme Court Justices: The way in which we fund public schools in the state is broken. Ever wonder how it got that way?

A conversation with Dr. Lori Taylor head of the public service and administration department at Texas A&M University, and economist who studies school finance and efficiency

A conversation with Bob Harvey, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership

A conversation with Dr. Doug Killian, teacher, Superintendent of Pflugerville ISD, and member of the Texas Commission on Public School Finance

Property taxes are going up across the state of Texas, but that money isn't making it into our kids' classrooms. Why is that? And what can we do about it?