School finance

Many school districts are seeing smaller gains from the state's school finance law than they predicted. Teachers are fighting to get bigger raises anyway.

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Texans like the Legislature better now. They're worried about elections. And they have mixed feelings about the country's most prominent politician. Some notes on the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

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Texas lawmakers are boasting about ambitious education and property tax legislation they passed this year, but voters don't appear to be completely sold, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

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Lawmakers are finished with the regular session and now enter the political season, figuring out how to discuss their work in a narrative voters will find appealing in next year's elections.

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The high-priority bill boosts per-student funding and reduces property taxes across the state.

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Dennis Bonnen gaveled out on Monday with much of the same widespread support in the Texas House that accompanied his unanimous election to the speaker’s gavel in January.

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On this week’s post-legislative session TribCast, Emily talks to Alexa, Aliyya and Emma about the kumbaya legislative session, the details of school finance reform and the fate of (now former) Texas Secretary of State David Whitley.

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In the past, personalities got in the way of policy at the Texas Capitol. This year, state leaders refused to let that happen.

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The $11.6 billion school finance and property tax reform bill is now poised to head to Gov. Greg Abbott.

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Lawmakers delivered on their promises of school finance and property tax reforms, agreeing to spend $11.6 billion on a combination of education changes and tax cuts. It's big, but is it really "transformative"?

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The $11.6 billion legislation is on a path to the governor's desk and includes property tax cuts, a hike in per-student funding and money to ease the state's reliance on the "Robin Hood" program.

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Even in a legislative session that began with estimates of a generous increase in state revenue, lawmakers spent a lot of time talking about big, big tax bills — all the way to the end.

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Starting teacher pay in Buffalo is thousands below the state average, and it's hard to attract people from outside the small town. The district's superintendent hopes school finance reform will help.

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One of the big bills of the session — a sales- for property-tax swap — was put on ice this week. Lots of other bills are ready for their post-session burials, too, but keep your eyes open. In the Texas Legislature, dead legislation has a way of coming back to life.

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The chambers will need to negotiate how to give teachers pay raises, whether to adjust how students take standardized tests and how to provide long-term property tax relief for Texans.

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The pieces are in place. There's a month to go. And the three leaders who bet big on school finance, education and property taxes are in a familiar place, imploring reluctant legislators to take the kinds of high-stakes votes that make and break political careers.

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen did not close the door on passing a sales tax swap with a simple majority instead of the current approach requiring two-thirds support of lawmakers and voter approval.

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Texas legislators have two versions of their sales-tax-for-property-tax swap in motion, and if they run out of time, lawmakers have more tricks in their pocket. If they don't get the property tax cuts they want, it won't be because of end-of-session deadlines.

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The Senate Education Committee approved the school finance bill in a hurried meeting Wednesday. The full Senate is now expected to vote on the legislation Friday. Meanwhile, a House panel advanced a proposal to let voters decide whether a sales tax increase should fund property tax relief.

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An amendment added to a Senate property tax bill ties it to school finance — a signal the Texas House doesn't want to leave the harder-to-pass education bill behind.

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