EDUCATION
School choice bill raises debate over public school funding
FUNDING EDUCATION IN TEXAS With a budget surplus of over $32 billion, public education advocates are calling on state lawmakers to invest more in public schools. Legislators could pass a school choice bill this session to provide families with funds to leave public schools and enroll in private schools.
legislators were looking at a $140 increase. In 2019, House Bill 3 included a $1,020 increase in the basic allotment for an estimated $4.5 billion. “We are begging for any morsel of additional funding for public schools, and where vouchers come in is they do the opposite,” said Laura Yeager, director of Just Fund It TX, a nonpartisan organization advocating for increased funding for public schools. School districts across the state, including Pearland ISD, approved budget deficits in fiscal year 2022-23. Community Impact previously reported PISD is projecting $15 million, $17 million and $20 million budget deficits in the next three school years if state funding levels remain unchanged. PISD Superintendent Larry Berger said he was not concerned about the prospect of any legisla- tion increasing competition between public and private schools. “If parents find our educational services lacking, we do not need to get upset because there are other options. We must understand why they feel this way, adjust and improve our services,” Berger said. Berger said PISD’s main concern is the “unfair nature” of the funding attached to bills like SB 8, questioning why prospective private school vouchers would receive thousands more dollars than the current per-student allotment at pub- lic schools. He also indicated private schools receiving state funding would not have the same mandated services as public schools. “Fund public schools with the same per-student funding formula to ensure equity of services,” Berger said. Debating the bill Statewide public education advocacy nonprofit Raise Your Hand Texas was founded 17 years ago primarily to push back against the voucher move- ment happening in the Texas Legislature at the time, Senior Director of Policy Bob Popinski said. Popinski said the program would also nega- tively affect public schools financially, as the state funding they receive is based on students’ average daily attendance. Michael Barba, K-12 education policy director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative
BY DANICA LLOYD & DANIEL WEEKS
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
A proposal to use state money to help parents pay for private schools was approved by the Texas Senate on April 6, setting off a debate about how public schools are funded across the state. Senate Bill 8, filed by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, would create an education savings account program, also known as private school vouchers. Parents who pull their children out of public schools could receive $8,000 per student for private school tuition and other education-related expenses. SB 8 is one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s seven emer- gency priorities for the 88th legislative session. “My job is to make sure we get across the finish line a piece of legislation that will return mom and dad to being in charge of their child’s educa- tion,” he said during a visit to Cypress Christian School on March 21. State spending The Legislative Budget Board reported the program would cost the state over $531 million through August 2025. While the program would not use funds allocated for public schools, oppo- nents of the legislation have expressed concerns that more funding is needed in public schools, which could lose more money if their students leave to attend private schools. The basic allotment—the amount school dis- tricts receive from the state per student to provide a basic level of education—has been set at $6,160 per student since 2019-20. Texas ranks No. 42 nationally in per-student spending, according to Education Week’s 2021 School Finance Rankings. The Texas comptroller of public accounts reported a $900 increase would be needed just to keep up with inflation; however, based on the legislation moving through the Texas House as of press time,
Average per-student spending
Pearland ISD $8,920
Alvin ISD $11,337
Friendswood ISD $9,292
How much school districts receive from the state per student to provide a basic level of education Amount families would receive per child for education-related expenses under Senate Bill 8
$8,000
$6,160
HOUSE BILL 100 PROPOSED A $140 INCREASE IN THE BASIC ALLOTMENT OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS AS OF PRESS TIME.
HOW TEXAS COMPARES After factoring in additional allotments for special educa- tion, bilingual, gifted and talented, and other programs, the state spends $9,369 per student on average.
In per-student spending by state, Texas ranks #42
U.S. average $13,679
Difference per student $4,310
Texas average $9,369
SOURCES: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY, EDUCATION WEEK’S 2021 SCHOOL FINANCE RANKINGS, SENATE BILL 8, PEARLAND ISD, ALVIN ISD, FRIENDSWOOD ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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