(Download) "Meeting the Needs of Texas School Children: The Texas Minimum Foundation School Program (Article 6) (Report)" by American Education History Journal ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Meeting the Needs of Texas School Children: The Texas Minimum Foundation School Program (Article 6) (Report)
- Author : American Education History Journal
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 223 KB
Description
Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, the quality of education for school children in Texas was inconsistent and control of public schools resided with local communities. As a result, teachers' salaries across the state were inequitable among the races, as well as among different divisions within a single district. School district spending was determined by a few, usually white, men who served as school board trustees. Additionally, the state provided little oversight of school curriculum, except for those high schools wishing to be affiliated with a university or later, accredited by the state. During the 1940s and 1950s, lawsuits were filed throughout the United States challenging the legality of segregation. In 1947, the Presidential Commission on Civil Rights called for an end to segregation based on race, color, creed, and national origin (Ashmore 1954). Following World War II, several southern states enacted minimum foundation programs during the late 1940s and 1950s (Urban and Waggoner, Jr. 2009). These programs established uniformity in curriculum and made more efficient use of educational funds through school district consolidation. Additionally, these initiatives attempted to equalize teachers' salaries. Texas was no exception to this movement. A sparse amount of literature was located that documented these minimum foundation programs and their lasting impact on education. This paper explores the history and impact of one such program: the Minimum School Foundation Program in Texas. To address the issue of the state's inadequate educational system, Governor Beauford Jester charged the 1947 Texas Legislature with establishing minimum salaries for public school teachers. When the Legislature was unable to come to resolution on the topic, it established a commission to study broad educational reform. The commission was headed by State Representative Claude Gilmer and Senator A.M. Aikin, Jr. (Kuehlem 2004). The committee, thereafter known as the Gilmer-Aikin Committee, consisted of 18 individuals. Three members of the committee were members of the House of Representatives, three additional members were appointed by the Speaker of the House, three members resided in the Senate, three additional individuals were appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and the Governor appointed six committee members. These 18 men were to study the improvement of the public schools in Texas, including such items as district reorganization, adequate financing, and increased student attendance (House Concurrent Resolution No. 48 1947). The result of this effort was the Minimum Foundation School Program, which overhauled public education in Texas. The program was far-reaching and initiated a quest to provide equitable school financing which continues in Texas today.