Sugar Land - Missouri City Edition | August 2023

2023 EDUCATION EDITION

FAILED STATE EFFORTS House Bill 100, which aimed to address teacher retention, failed to make it to the governor’s desk for a signature during the 88th legislative session. Gov. Greg Abbott said action on school funding is coming in a future session.

the 2023-24 school year. This is due to a number of economic factors, such as ination, which has driven up operating costs, as well as state and fed- eral money tied to the COVID-19 pandemic drying up, Popinski said. Nearly all proposals aimed at increasing school funding in the legislative session ended up on the cutting-room oor, Popinski said. Among those proposals included an increase to teacher pay and the per-student allotment funding given to school districts. The per-student allotment sits at $6,160 and has not been increased since House Bill 3 passed in 2019, Popinski said. The state would need to add roughly $1,000 this year to the allotment to match ination that’s happened since the last increase. Due to high rates of ination in recent years— totaling about 18.5% from April 2019-April 2023, according to the Texas comptroller’s oce—school districts have had trouble keeping up with rising costs of their operations. Houston ISD, which is in the middle of a takeover from the state, approved a $2.2 billion budget June 22 with a $168.5 million shortfall. The story rings much the same at Cy-Fair ISD— the state’s third-largest school district—which passed in June a $1.21 billion budget with a roughly $138.6 million shortfall. CFISD Superintendent Mark Henry said his dis- trict’s newest budget was the most dicult to pre- pare in his 32-year career. “It’s irresponsible and insidious what the state is doing to public education right now,” Henry said at the district’s June 20 meeting. On the state side, many funding bills failed because of eorts to tie them to a private school voucher program as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s goal to make private institutions more aordable to families in Texas. The program lacked support from both the House and Senate, blocking many bills from passing that otherwise might have had the needed votes, Popinski said. What happens next? Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, said in a July 6 emailed statement to Community Impact that more money will be available to districts

HOUSE BILL 100 SOUGHT TO:

TEACHERS SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING QUITTING:

Not considering quitting Considering quitting

Improve teacher retention ( increase minimum salary to $45,000 )

2018

2022

Increase school district revenue ( $140 increase per student over two years )

47%

53%

30%

70%

Adjust basic per-student allotment for ination every two years

SOURCES: TEXAS LEGISLATURE ONLINE, FORT BEND ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

when the state passes the school choice legislation, adding it’s an eort to “empower parents.” “Gov. Abbott has prioritized public education funding and support for our hardworking teachers throughout his time in oce,” Mahaleris said in the statement. The House and Senate came to an agreement in July on property tax legislation that would spend $12.6 billion of the state’s surplus on buying down school district tax rates by about 10.7 cents. School districts are typically the highest-taxing local enti- ties compared to cities and counties. Guinn said “no one” would protest reductions to tax bills but expressed disappointment that the state’s remaining nearly $33 billion surplus has not yet been directed toward schools. He said FBISD ocials are “very concerned” the state has not suc- cessfully addressed “critical” issues. FBISD board members have until Aug. 21 to call the VATRE for November. Ocials showed support for conducting a public opinion survey on the topic before taking action, similar to the survey for the last bond. There is still time for the state Legislature to pass something. The state is working through spe- cial sessions right now, which could include some school funding bills, Popinski said.

“I BELIEVE HB 100 WOULD HAVE EQUATED FOR US TO ABOUT A $500 INCREASE IN TEACHER PAY OVER WHAT WE’RE CURRENTLY PAYING, WHICH IS IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS INSIGNIFICANT.” BRYAN GUINN, FBISD CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

In the meantime, with shortfalls and a growing need to increase teacher compensation, many dis- tricts will likely be dipping into their reserves to make ends meet, Popinski said. “School districts are in a pretty tough position going forward,” he said.

Goldstein DO, FAAP For more information, visit communityimpact.com .

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SUGAR LAND MISSOURI CITY EDITION • AUGUST 2023