As part of a nine-volume, six-state study of the impact of school finance reforms on minorities and the poor, the author examines the history and effects of finance reform in Texas. He presents a political and socioeconomic profile of the state and discusses past Texas school financing, the role of the Rodriguez v. San Antonio Independent School District decision, and the passage of Texas's 1975 school finance reform bill. To assess the bill's impact, data on educational revenues, school district wealth, tax effort, ethnicity, personal income, urban location, and school salaries are analyzed using correlation coefficients, percentiles, and averages. The author's analysis reveals (1) virtually no change in tax rates after the 1975 law; (2) slight decreases in spending disparities and wealth discrimination; (3) high levels of isolation of the poor and minorities, especially Mexican Americans; and (4) small decreases in revenue inequities among districts with different ethnic compositions but increases in inequity among districts with different income levels. Six problems are identified for Texas school financing, including district dependence on local funding, measurement of district wealth, per capita state allotments, and low levels of funding for compensatory education. (Author/RW)