A Tale of two districts

Deer Park and North Forest are two independent school districts. Both are in Houston, a mere 15 miles apart. There the similarity ends. The two districts, one rich, one struggling, exemplify the difficulties in providing equal money for Texan public schools. A federal court has ordered that this must be done by June 1st, voters have already turned down one plan. The harried state legislature hops from one Robin-Hood scheme to the next.

The oil industry underpins Deer Park. The area, down by the Ship Channel, is full of large petrochemical plants (Shell, Occidental, Rohm & Haas), producing millions in tax revenue each year. Its 11,000 school­children are 78% white, 13% Hispanic and 1% black. Academically, this is one of the country's top school districts. Its schools are set in green-lawned campuses, and for years its teachers have been among the highest-paid in Texas. Crime and drugs are virtually unknown.

North Forest school district, with 13,000 students, is another world. The wooded area is nice enough but the schools have a long history of desegregation problems, and are now 88% black and 10% Hispanic. Nearly 60% of the district's students are "economically disadvantaged" (the state average is 42%). North Forest has a history of administrative instability, near-insolvency and crime, one high school was partly burnt down. The FBI has been summoned several times to tackle problems the local police could not handle.

Things are looking up a bit at the moment. A new, no-nonsense superintendent, Carrel Thomas, has been appointed. Thanks to the interim school-financing plan, North Forest is not burdened by a large deficit. Leaking roofs have been repaired, and there is no longer a shortage of school supplies. Several big companies - including Exxon and Southwestern Bell Telephone - have set up links between schools and business. North Forest starting salaries ($23,100) are approaching those of Deer Park ($24,650).

Yet much has not changed. Property taxes in North Forest remain among the highest in the state, discouraging industrial development. Drugs remain freely available, and teenage pregnancy is widespread. Test scores are still well below the not-too-high state average. Current spending per student is $4,600 a year, against $5,470 at Deer Park. At Deer Park, the affably polished superintendent, David Hicks, worries outloud what five years of more equal school finance could do to his budgets. Two years ago, the Texas Supreme Court declared that money had to be spread equally between rich districts and poor, and that rich schools should send some of their revenues to the state to be shared out. Under the interim school-financing plan Deer Park already provides $22m, out of its budget of $52m, to go to poorer schools. What will happen if more money has to be found? Pupils are still pouring into Deer Park, and parents are nervous. It is unclear, too, whether any plan would satisfy the poorer districts. On some issues, residents of both Deer Park and North Forest agree. Neither wants any kind of school- district consolidation, a dreaded policy leading to loss of local control. Deer Park, which has already lost tens of millions of dollars in academic revenue sharing, will reluctantly give up a bit more. Otherwise, it wants no part of North Forest's manifold problems. There is little contact between the two districts. Administrators meet from time to time. But the students rarely do, except occasionally for athletic contests. Fiscal equality is not expected to reduce racial isolation.

The Economist May 29^th 199

Дата добавления: 2015-10-31