Premont ISD in South Texas has made drastic moves to improve its finances — including cutting high school sports. But critics fault the state's accountability and school finance systems, which they say punish districts that serve largely low-income populations.

Texas voters started going to the polls this week to decide whether to add 10 amendments to the state's massive Constitution, potentially taking the total number of amendments to 477. A few of them have drawn the ire of anti-tax groups.

This week, Secretary of State Hope Andrade conducted a lottery that determined the order of the 10 new proposals on the November ballot. Each amendment already won approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate and now needs a nod from a majority of the voters. Here's the rundown... 

The Texas public school finance system, responsible for underwriting the education of the nation’s second-largest student population, is notoriously byzantine. Here’s our layman’s guide to figuring it out.

Charter schools want access to the state's Permanent School Fund, which guarantees bond issues for traditional public schools, allowing them to secure advantageous interest rates. Not everyone is on board — including the traditional public schools.

The State Board of Education won't be investing any money in properties to lease to charter schools, at least for now.

Hoping to tackle the long-standing challenge of financing charter school facilities, the State Board of Education is considering taking on a novel and controversial role: landlord. SBOE member David Bradley, R-Beaumont, wants to use $100 million from the $23 billion Permanent School Fund to buy properties and then lease them back to charter schools, which have historically struggled with capital costs. Critics say the elected board can't possibly fulfill the mandate of the Fund — to invest for maximum return — while at the same time cutting charters a good deal. 

Disability rights advocates say State Board of Education member David Bradley's comment to the Texas Tribune — "If you sit on the mental health commission, do you have to be retarded?" — is offensive and uninformed.

The State Board of Education, which has showcased some intense philosophical fights, has drawn scrutiny for becoming a partisan battleground. For now, members are just trying to get along — but the rifts are as big as ever.

The state’s permanent school fund, which spins off money for textbooks and the like each year, has recaptured billions of dollars after a frightening downward spiral this spring.

Trouble is, the increase in the fund may produce no increase at all in education spending. The real beneficiaries of the fund often are the state legislature and its priorities outside education.