Does Current State and Local Funding Provide For A Quality Education? (Panel on Education)

Does Current State and Local Funding Provide For A Quality Education? (Panel on Education)

panel of speakers

This page has information related to the Tax Ratification Election, November 6, in some school districts.

LWV Dallas sponsored two panel discussions on state and local public education funding on August 30, 2018. The purpose of the meetings was to educate the public about:

  • the process of funding Texas’ public education
  • the differences in cost and efficiencies
  • the explanation that equality is not the same as equity
  • the effect of funding on local school districts
  • and a number of other factors that affect the quality of education in the state and Dallas Independent School District and other Texas districts.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

The events were DOES CURRENT STATE AND LOCAL FUNDING PROVIDE FOR A QUALITY EDUCATION? (Lunchtime) and DOES CURRENT STATE AND LOCAL FUNDING PROVIDE FOR A QUALITY EDUCATION? (Evening). Media on this page is from these events.

The PDF icon program is similar for both events. Speaker bios from the program are also shown below.

Videos from "Does Current State and Local Funding Provide For A Quality Education?"

Full video of lunchtime panel at Midway Hills Christian Church

Video of evening panel at El Centro College

Questions and answers from both events

Related links

Speaker Biographies

Mavis Knight

represented the southern Dallas County and eastern Tarrant County district on the State Board of Education from 2002 to 2014. Her experience as a community volunteer helped her be a reasonable representative on the board. Knight resisted efforts to politicize standards in science, history and social studies. She’s been part of the sensible center that has tried to focus on facts, not ideology, in writing state standards. Knight’s constructive leadership and decades of experience have been a great benefit for Texas schoolchildren. She currently is working on her doctorate degree.

Dr. Lori Taylor

is the head of Public Service and Administration Department, Professor, and Director of the Robert A. Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy at Texas A&M University. She holds the Verlin and Howard Kruse ’52 Founders Professorship in the Bush School of Government and Public Service and is an adjunct professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Economics. Lori holds a BA in economics and a BS in business administration from the University of Kansas, and a master's and PhD in economics from the University of Rochester. Prior to joining the Bush School, she spent fourteen years as an economist and policy advisor in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Lori has written extensively on variations in the cost of education and the determinants of school district efficiency.

Chandra Kring Villanueva

is Program Director on the Economic Opportunity Team at the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP). She oversees the Center's work on education, workforce development and job quality. She joined CPPP in 2010 and has focused on school finance and education policy ranging from early education to higher education access and success. Prior to joining the Center, Chandra was the manager of Advocacy and Public Policy with the Women’s Prison Association (WPA) in New York City to help formerly incarcerated women with the legislative process and researched options for pregnant women in the criminal justice system. She has also served as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center with placements in Tucson, AZ and Washington, DC. Chandra earned a Master of Public Administration from New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and a Bachelor of Arts from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.

Rena Honea

received her education in Dallas ISD. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Education with endorsements in Kindergarten, Early Childhood for the Handicapped and Generic Special Education from Texas Tech University. She always dreamed of a career that would help others and decided that her calling was teaching students in public schools. Rena taught for 26 years at the same elementary school in Dallas ISD teaching multiple subjects and grade levels during her tenure and served in numerous leadership positions, conducted staff trainings, led professional development sessions, served as the liaison between the university partnership and the school district for the professional development site at the campus. She was elected Campus Teacher of the Year and District Semi-Finalist for Teacher of the Year for the 1999-2000 school year. In 2004, Rena accepted the position of Education Center, Inc. Director for the Alliance-AFT Local 2260 in Dallas. She oversaw the union professional development program that partnered with Dallas ISD to train teachers and support staff. In January 2009, Rena became President of Alliance/AFT, the largest teachers’ union in Texas. She has received state affiliate awards in many areas.

Joyce Foreman

was elected to the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees in June 2014, representing District 6 in southwest Dallas. She is a business owner and community leader who brings experience from a variety of education-related affiliations to the board, including Dallas ISD Bond Advisory Committee since 2002, the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, the Commission on Educational Excellence, the Greater Dallas Chamber Executive Committee, as Vice Chair of Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board, Chase Bank of Texas Board and El Centro College Office Career Advisory Committee. In 1981, after a successful career as a corporate buyer, Joyce started her own local company, Foreman Office Products, a business venture that lasted 30 years until her retirement in 2011.

Cosponsors of the August 30 events

  • Bill Betzen
  • CEPE – Coalition for Equity in Public Education
  • Lynn Davenport
  • Mavis Knight
  • Ledbetter Neighborhood Assoc.
  • North Texas LULAC
  • Ntarupt–The North Texas Alliance to Reduce Unintended
  • Pregnancy in Teens
  • South Oak Cliff H.S. Alumni Assoc.
  • Diane Tasian
  • Westmoreland Heights Neighborhood Assoc.