State lawmakers are not solely to blame for the increasing burden on local property taxpayers, but they are certainly as responsible as anyone else.
school finance
Posted inState Government
Analysis: Texas’ most persistent policy problem
You wouldn’t be out of line wondering why Texas school finance didn’t get fixed in 2017. Or 2015. Or 2013. But it’s because this is a hard policy problem and a harder political one. The prompt now is that property taxes have gotten so far out of hand that lawmakers have no choice but to act.
Posted in
Public Education
Texas panel set to discuss school finance fix. Can they iron out lawmakers’ disagreements?
The Texas Commission on Public School Finance will meet for the first time this week as it develops legislative recommendations for overhauling the state’s beleaguered system for funding public education.
Posted in
Public Education
Special education caps were the Texas Legislature’s idea, educators say
In the wake of a federal report finding Texas was failing its kids with disabilities, educators say the state is to blame and that Texas legislators first suggested cutting back special education services to keep costs low.
Posted in
2017 Year in Review
Analyses in the rearview mirror: School finance and property taxes
The end of the year is when property owners have to pay their taxes — an increasingly large bill in Texas that’s a key part of the state’s rickety school finance system. Here’s a sampling of columns tracking that debate in 2017.
Posted in
2017 Year in Review
Texas schools weathered Hurricane Harvey, political strife in 2017
Take a look back at our 2017 public education coverage and read about how the Texas Legislature failed to overhaul the school finance system, how several Texas students and teachers are still recovering from a devastating hurricane, and more.
Posted in
Public Education
Amid state cuts, a Texas high school football coach got a $20,000 raise. His district says he’s earned it.
As state cuts to public education become more common, school communities must frequently debate where and how to trim their limited budgets without harming students or teachers.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: Texas has more than one problem with government rats
The infestation of Norwegian rats in a state building where health regulators work is not only a big, embarrassing mess — it’s a metaphor for a persistent problem in Texas government.
Posted in
In Harvey's Wake
School superintendents hit by Harvey ask lawmakers for help with recovery costs
At a House Public Education Committee hearing Thursday, superintendents rattled off long lists of unexpected costs they incurred after Hurricane Harvey swept through the Texas coast.
Posted in
Public Education
New school finance commission member discusses the road ahead
Doug Killian, the current superintendent of Pflugerville ISD, was recently named to the Texas Legislature’s interim commission to study school finance. Read what he had to say about the challenges facing the commission.
