The latest school finance news from The Texas Tribune.
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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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The Texas Supreme Court on Friday issued a ruling upholding the state’s public school funding system as constitutional, while asserting it could be better. Full Story
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Full video of my 2/25 conversation with state Rep. J.M. Lozano, R-Kingsville, and state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville. Full Story
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At our 1/22 symposium on urban public education, I talked accountability, demographic change, school choice and school finance with Mike Morath, the state's new commissioner of education. Full Story
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The makeup of the Texas public school system has become less white and poorer in recent decades, according to the most recent data reflected in The Texas Tribune’s Texas Public Schools Explorer. Full Story
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A look at who might be among Gov. Greg Abbott's choices as he ponders the possibilities to fill the post Texas Education Agency Commissioner Michael Williams will leave in January. Full Story
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At our 10/29 conversation, Chief Justice Nathan Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court talked about the timing of a possible ruling on the state's appeal in the school finance lawsuit. Full Story
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Far more money is extracted from Texans in the form of state and local sales taxes, but property taxes are the source of more complaints. School taxes lead the list but account for a smaller share of the overall tax bill than 10 years ago. Full Story
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Citing past rulings and politics, experts and insiders are predicting the Texas Supreme Court will rule in the latest school finance appeal early next year, with some predicting a summertime special legislative session. Full Story
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“Money isn’t pixie dust” when it comes to improving public schools, lawyers for the state of Texas told the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing an appeal in what has been described as the most far-reaching school finance case in state history. Full Story
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The city of Austin filed a lawsuit Monday against the state of Texas charging that the current property appraisal system is unconstitutional and creates “an imbalance in the tax burdens between residential and commercial property owners.” Full Story
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The Texas Supreme Court is about to hear the latest challenge to the state's financing of public schools. Maybe they'll throw it out, but history says otherwise: This almost always means changes in school policy and increases in taxes. Full Story
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You can peek at the state’s near future in the latest numbers from the Texas Education Agency: 51.8 percent Hispanic, 29.4 percent Anglo, 12.7 percent African-American, 3.7 percent Asian. Full Story
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