School finance

Early discussions about the next state budget include an old and politically hazardous debate: Property values are rising, meaning the local share of education spending will rise while the state share drops.

Full Story 

In a preliminary budget request, the Texas Education Agency revealed it expects the state to put less money into public education next year because of fast-increasing local property values.

Full Story 

Texas voters aren't satisfied with the state's handling of public education and don't always agree on whether paying for it should be a state or local duty, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

Full Story 

Editor's note: If you'd like an email notice whenever we publish Ross Ramsey's column, click here. The political debates of this election year will foreshadow some of the issues you'll see when the Texas Legislature meets next year, but some of the best clues — sports gambling is one example — come from the financial advisers to public sector investors.

Full Story 

Texas A&M University professor Lori Taylor stunned Kansas lawmakers by recommending they increase their school funding by 44 percent. But what does that mean for Texas?

Full Story 

Glenn Hegar, the state's comptroller of public accounts, is warning lawmakers that Texas' bond ratings are at risk because of a couple of pending expensive problems. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Full Story 

As Texas' school finance commission is set to hold its next hearing, some members and policy experts are arguing the hearings seem set toward a predetermined outcome — making schools do more with the funding they have.

Full Story 

A federal report said Texas policy on how to serve students with dyslexia violates federal law. State officials say the policy was originally created to address a gap in federal law.

Full Story 

Lawmakers say local property taxes are getting too high. School leaders say the taxes are increasing because the state is taking on a smaller share of public education funding. Hey Texplainer, what's really happening?

Full Story 

State lawmakers are not solely to blame for the increasing burden on local property taxpayers, but they are certainly as responsible as anyone else.

Full Story 

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.

Full Story 

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.

Full Story 

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.

Full Story 

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.

Full Story 

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.

Full Story 

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.

Full Story 

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.

Full Story 

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.

Full Story 

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.

Full Story 

The Texas Education Agency is offering state funding to as many as 157 school districts and charter schools that saw lower attendance or closed facilities due to the storm, which could ultimately cost the state an estimated $400 million.

Full Story