As the first version of the state budget circulated at the beginning of the 2009 session, school advocates had a reason to get excited. The budget included $1.9 billion in new education funds, most of it going directly to schools via weighted formulas for distribution.  There was only one problem.

The money didn’t exist.

“It was a deficit budget as written,” said Scott Hochberg (D-Houston), who chaired the Appropriations subcommittee on Education.

As soon as legislators knew how much money the state would have to spend, they realized the state was about $4 billion short of covering the ...

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