In Texas, local taxpayers fund the majority of educational facilities construction and maintenance costs, with local wealth influencing facilities outcomes. The traditional school districts that comprise the predominantly Latino and segregated San Antonio area vary considerably in property wealth as well as district capacity and expertise. We conducted an analysis of 12 San Antonio area school districts to address the questions: 1) To what extent do state and local investments vary by district? 2) How do district actions and constraints affect facilities quality and equitable investment? Methods include descriptive quantitative analysis of facilities investment data and qualitative interviews with school district leaders, staff, and school finance experts. Examining Texas school finance data demonstrated the variance in school district investments in educational facilities. Despite some districts with lower property wealth exerting higher levels of tax effort, they were able to raise less money per student for educational facilities through interest and sinking taxes. Interview findings revealed that several districts acknowledge lacking the capacity to maintain high-quality facilities for all students. Respondents frequently criticized current state policies and funding for educational facilities as inadequate, inequitable, and inefficient and expressed a need for policy improvements in an era of increasing state disinvestment.
Studies demonstrate that preventive practices, including restorative practices and social and emotional learning, reduce the need for suspension. However, emerging findings suggest that preventive practices perpetuate the same rates of racial disproportionality in suspension as traditional disciplinary codes; evidence of persistent racial disproportionality appears in research on restorative practices. The purpose of this study was to examine, through interviews with teachers and students, the successes and challenges of implementing community-building circles with attention to equity and inclusion. Authors found that both teachers and students experience these practices as transformative when enough trust is established to share openly; however, more training is necessary for this to be consistent across schools and classrooms. Considering the lack of discussion of implicit bias and cultural responsiveness embedded in the restorative practice trainings these teachers received, authors argue that social work professionals and concepts—namely, empowerment theory—can support teacher training and implementation of community-building circles.
Researchers interviewed higher education professionals, asking: How do professionals working in higher education equity and access sectors, both public and private, assign responsibility for improving access, and what solutions do they propose? Informed by Kingdon’s multiple streams framework and Guajardo et al.’s theory of change in action, researchers spoke with professionals to analyze inequities in college access. Respondents disagreed on responsibility for improving access, with solutions varying based on vantage points, values, and privilege.
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