Important Historical Events of School Finance

In my opinion, one of the most important events that impacted the funding of public education occurred during the tenure of Mirabeau B. Lamar. Lamar persuaded the legislature to establish land grants that provided for the initial funding for two major Universities and county school districts in the Republic of Texas during the years of his presidency, 1839-1849. Although it was eventually found that these land grants were insufficient to fund public schools adequately, this was the first attempt to fund public education. I feel that this act was important because until this time, there had been no organized funding for a free public education.The next event that I consider very important occurred in 1876 when the new Texas Constitution was adopted. It contained important language that basically says that because education is important, it will be the responsibility of the state to establish and fund free public schools. This language provides the foundation by which the state government uses to assure that adequacy, equity and efficiency are met in providing our school funding. There have been changes to the constitution that were necessary. However this first attempt at adequacy, equity and efficiency provided the lawmakers with the basic principles that are still being used today to ensure a free quality education for all students. Thirdly, I find that the Gilmer- Aikin laws had a significant impact on the history of educational finance due to the number of relevant changes that came from these laws. In an effort to make public schools more efficient and better funded, the committee members that created these laws lowered the number of school districts, provided for teacher salary increases, formalized the school year, created the State Board of Education, organized how the state would supplement local taxes to fund the schools and made many other significant changes. These laws made many needed changes and clarified many details of public education funding and organization.