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Organization Purpose

Summary
Thus, the major goal of the Texas Association of Rural Schools is the enhancement of the fiscal capacity of rural school
districts while narrowing the gap in the fiscal capacity between small districts and others.
 
The purpose of TARS is twofold:
      1. To impact the state's school finance and property tax systems so to ensure equitable distribution of education resources
              and tax burdens, and 
      2. To become involved both directly and indirectly in the policy-making and administrative processes of federal, state, and
              local entities (excluding school districts) by:  
                       a.  Monitoring the entities,
                       b.  Conducting the independent research, and
                       c.  Making specific recommendations.
 
The major thrust of TARS is threefold:
      1. To protect the "small and mid-size school formulas/adjustment,"
      2. To protect the valuation of agricultural land according to its productivity only, and
      3. To fight efforts toward consolidation of small school districts.
 
A Challenge
However, to achieve our goal, to promote our purpose, and to continue to protect the right for rural schools to exist, we need
your membership and support. Can your district afford to wait? Can your teachers constantly continue to meet the educational
demands that are neither supported nor financed by our present state government? Can your students look to you for educational guidance and direction in a political environment that threatens their very right to a decent education? We think not. That is why TARS is here for you and your school community.  Join us.  We can WIN? We have done it before, and we will do it again.  But this time, you can say, I was a part of that fight; but more importantly, I was a part of that VICTORY. 
 
Organizational Bylaws (linked)