FINANCIAL EXPENDITURES BY FUNCTION FOR TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A MULTIYEAR STATEWIDE INVESTIGATION

Purpose

Three major purposes were present in this journal-ready dissertation. The first purpose was to determine the monies spent for Guidance Counseling Services, Social Work Services, and Instructional Leadership per pupil in real dollars and as a percent of the total monies at Texas elementary, middle, and high schools. The second purpose was to investigate the degree to which differences might be present in the monies spent and as a percent of the total monies for the aforementioned functions and school levels. The third purpose was to ascertain the extent to which trends might exist in monies spent and as a percent of monies at all three school levels across the 2009-2010 school year through the 2018-2019 school year so that the presence of trends could be ascertained.

Method

For these quantitative analyses, a causal-comparative research design was utilized. Archival data were obtained from the Texas Education Agency’s Public Education Information Management System. Financial expenditures for the aforementioned functions and school years were analyzed.

Findings

Regarding Guidance Counseling Services and Social Work Services, statistically significant differences were established between the elementary, middle, and high school levels for most of the 10 school years examined. The monies spent per student and the percent of total monies spent, were highest for high schools, followed by the middle schools, and were lowest at the elementary schools. From the 2009-2010 school year to the 2018-2019 school year, the monies spent in both functions showed a positive increase, not yet taking into account inflation. Regarding Guidance Counseling Services for elementary, middle, and high schools, the monies spent for services increased by $60, $95, and $100, respectively. Regarding Social Work Services, expenditures increased by $7, $8, and $19, respectively.

With respect to Instructional Leadership, statistically significant differences were documented in the dollars spent per student for most of the 10 school years. However, only a few of the school years yielded a statistically significant difference in the percent of total monies spent. The Instructional Leadership dollars were highest for high schools, followed by the middle and elementary schools, which frequently spent similar amounts of monies per pupil. For the aforementioned 10 school years, expenditures for elementary, middle, and high schools increased by $42, $40, and $48, respectively.