It may feel like it takes a Ph.D to understand how Texas funds its public schools. That’s for a reason, and that reason is to keep the public from understanding some basic principles . . .
- Just like a magician keeping you looking in the wrong direction, the complicated school finance system distracts us from seeing that per student school funding over the past 14 years has been gradually reduced, and that the state is putting less and less into public schools. This keeps Texas in the bottom five states in funding per student, and over $4,000 per student below the national average.
- The finance system keeps you from seeing that the state is taking local money (your property taxes) and acting like they own it. In reality, they take those local dollars designated for public schools and keep some of it to finance tax cuts to corporations, as well as to fill other funding gaps not related to education.
Having a complicated finance system (and testing and accountability system) means that the average parent and taxpayer in Texas will not know how to advocate for change. It keeps state leadership in the driver’s seat and the public in the back seat, along for the ride. We need to push for both school finance and accountability reform to start in this legislative session!
Also, did you know that Texas is one of only six states that funds schools based on attendance, rather than enrollment? This means that, with the increase in chronic absenteeism stemming from the COVID pandemic, Texas schools were provided with even less money. Especially hard hit were low-income schools. Read more from Every Texan.
In the meantime, here are some resources that can help you understand the convoluted school finance system as it currently exists.
Strong Public Schools for All Texas Children
