A new version of Rep. Scott Hochberg’s school finance plan limits the total reductions in state funding for any individual district to 10 percent in 2012. Check our searchable database to see what the cuts will look for your district.
school finance
Posted in
Public Education
What Happens if There’s No School Finance Bill?
Nobody wanted to think about it in January. But as the middle of May approaches, with little more than two weeks left in the 82nd legislative session, a growing chorus of voices is asking: What happens if lawmakers can’t agree on school finance reform?
Posted in
Economy
Schools Consider Legal Action Over Budget Cuts
With school districts across the state passing belt-tightening budgets due to cuts expected at the Legislature, Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports that some districts are gearing up for legal challenges.
Posted in
Economy
Full Video: TPPF’s Higher Ed Reform Panel
At a panel hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, UT president Bill Powers, TPPF senior fellow Ronbald Trowbridge and speaker of the A&M faculty senate Robert Strawser discussed the conservative think tank’s seven proposed reforms to higher education. Here is the full video.
Posted in
Economy
Senate Budget Debate: Education Funding
The Texas Senate talks education funding, revenue and Rainy Day spending as members debate suspending the rules to bring up their substitute for House Bill 1, the proposed budget for the next biennium.
Posted in
Public Education
What $7.8 Billion Less Means for Your School District
If the House has its way, there will be 7.8 billion fewer state dollars headed to Texas public schools. Here’s our searchable database built from state Rep. Scott Hochberg’s projections of how the funding cuts would hit 1,024 school districts across the state.
Posted inPublic Education
Interactive: Texas Superintendent Contracts Annotated
We’ve collected and annotated the contracts of the 10 highest-paid school chiefs, as well as of those who lead the state’s 10 largest districts, for a total of 14, so readers can view their pay in the context of retirement perks, performance incentives and benefits like monthly automobile and cellphone allowances.
Posted in
Public Education
Annotated Documents: Superintendent Contracts
We’ve annotated the contracts of the 10 highest-paid school superintendents, along with those who lead the state’s 10 largest districts, so readers can view their pay in the context of retirement benefits, performance incentives, and perks like automobile and cellphone allowances.
Posted in
Economy
A Budget Problem Deferred — to Now
The 2006 tax swap — lowering local school property taxes and creating a new business tax to make up the difference — is at the center of Texas’ current budget troubles. The architects are still pointing fingers over what and whom to blame for the state’s “structural deficit.”
Posted in
Public Education
For Military School Districts, A Funding War On Two Fronts
With budget gridlock in Washington, and massive education cuts at home, the Texas school districts that qualify for federal “Impact Aid” dollars are waging a war on two fronts.