Texas House budget and public education leaders said Wednesday that the best way to overhaul the state’s school finance system is to increase the base amount of money it gives to each district per student.
school finance
Posted in
Public Education
Texas Lawmakers to Highlight Education Spending Divide
The state’s escalating dependence on local tax dollars to fund public schools is expected to be a focus during a joint hearing of two House committees Wednesday and Thursday.
Posted inState Government
Analysis: A Game of Chicken Between Texas, Its Biggest School District
Voters in the state’s largest school district can say no to sending money to other school districts, putting Texas lawmakers in a bind and — maybe — raising their own school taxes in the process.
Posted in
Public Education
Rich Schools Hopeful Houston ISD Could Topple Robin Hood Plan
Texas has deemed an increasing number of schools as property-wealthy, requiring them to give up a share of their local tax dollars to help buoy poorer districts.
Posted in
Public Education
Analysis: Texas Legislator Wonders if a New School Tax Might Bring Less Pain
State Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, wrote to his constituents about school finance and used these phrases along the way: statewide commercial property tax, consolidated funding districts, and statewide property tax. Yikes.
Posted in
Public Education
School Finance Dividing Lines Emerge at Hearing
The fault lines that will define efforts to improve the state’s system of funding education came into sharp focus Wednesday as a Senate panel began studying how to improve the “efficiency” of public schools in Texas.
Posted in
Public Education
Lawmakers Look at Tying School Funding to Performance
Should Texas fund public schools based on their academic performance rather than just giving them a certain amount of money per student? State lawmakers are beginning to explore that idea.
Posted in
Public Education
In School Choice Fight, a Fresh Force Emerges
An ambitious new player has emerged in the controversial effort to use taxpayer dollars to help Texas parents send their kids to private or religious schools.
Posted inPublic Education
New on TribTalk: Austin ISD President on School Finance Ruling
The Texas Supreme Court’s school finance ruling means lawmakers now have a moral obligation to appropriately invest in the next generation of Texans, writes Kendall Pace, president of the Austin ISD board of trustees.
Posted in
Public Education
Analysis: If School Finance System is Legal, Why Fix it?
A Texas Supreme Court decision saying the state’s school funding system is a big, stinking mess — but not an unconstitutional one — might be just the medicine to keep things just the way they are.
