AUSTIN — Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released a report by Center for Education Freedom Director Kent Grusendorf and Policy Analyst Michael Barba, summarizing the school-finance trial expert report and testimony of Allan E. Parker.
Allan Parker is President of the Justice Foundation. He testified as an expert on school finance as a part of the Texas Association of Business, Texans for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education, Joyce Coleman, et.al. efficiency lawsuit portion of the school finance trial.
“As Allan Parker and other experts testified, Texas’ education system must be declared constitutionally inefficient by the Texas Supreme Court,” said Grusendorf. “When this occurs, the Texas legislature will have an unprecedented opportunity to establish equal educational opportunities for all Texas children through school choice.”
“Mr. Parker testified that the dropout rate of African Americans and Hispanics in Texas schools is now 26 and 33 percent, respectively,” said Barba. “The District Court, commenting on similar numbers, declared that this situation is ‘disastrous’ and ‘should be a focus of state policy’. We should welcome innovation to help these students, who are not reaching their full potential.”
To read the full report, visit: http://txpo.li/parker-expert-report
The Honorable Kent Grusendorf, Senior Fellow for Education, represented Arlington in the Texas Legislature for twenty years, focusing on education. Serving on the House Public Education Committee and various Select Committees, he played a significant role in crafting legislative responses to the Edgewood I, Edgewood II, Edgewood III, Edgewood IV, and West Orange Cove school-finance court decisions.
Michael Barba is a Policy Analyst at the Center for Education Freedom at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.