Rearranging deck chairs in Dallas: Contextual constraints and within-district resource allocation in urban Texas school districts

The goal of this study is to simultaneously explore resource allocation across schools within large urban school districts and across all schools within major metropolitan areas that include those urban districts in the state of Texas. This study uses a three-year panel, from 2005 to 2007, for Texas elementary schools in the Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio Core Based Statistical Areas. Large city districts evaluated include Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, and Austin. We find that within the state of Texas, the relative competitive position of urban core districts varies widely. We find that on average current spending in the metropolitan areas surrounding these large urban districts is progressively distributed with respect to poverty rates. In Dallas, spending fell well below that of surrounding districts and was less progressively distributed. In San Antonio, spending fell below surroundings, but was progressively distributed. Austin and Fort Worth also progressively distributed spending. Houston, while spending more on elementary schools than surrounding districts, provided a relatively flat distribution of that spending, advantaging lower poverty schools to the disadvantage of higher poverty ones.