News on State Funding for Education

The SBISD School Zone has recently shared several articles related to school funding in the state of Texas. A majority of district in the State, Spring Branch included, have great concern with the current funding method and how it impacts their ability to provide for the students and families they serve.

An excerpt of each of the three articles is provided below, with links to the full articles.

Texas Supreme Court Upholds School Funding System

From the Texas Tribune:

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Two-thirds of Texas school districts sued the state after the Legislature cut $5.4 billion from the public education budget in 2011. 

Their lawyers argued the state's method of funding public schools was unconstitutional on a variety of grounds — that the Legislature had failed to provide districts with sufficient funding to ensure students meet the state's increasingly difficult academic standards; that big disparities had emerged between property-wealthy and property-poor school districts; and that many school districts were having to tax at the maximum rate just to provide a basic education, meaning they lacked "meaningful discretion" to set rates. That amounts to a violation of a constitutional ban on a statewide property tax.
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Read the full article on the SBISD School Zone.
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Preliminary Budget Built on Cost Efficiencies

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Under the state’s “recapture” law, also known as Robin Hood, the school district is considered property-wealthy, which will require state payments to double from $33 million to $66 million, and then go up to more than $90 million. 

Over three years, SBISD’s estimated Robin Hood payments to the State of Texas – not students or teachers in SBISD – are projected to skyrocket to a projected $190 million.
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Read the full article on the SBISD School Zone.

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Texas Supreme Court Says Current School Finance System Meets Constitutional Standards

From the Texas Tribune:

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“This decision represents a dark day for Texas school children, especially given the Legislature’s repeated failure to adequately fund our schools,” Mr. Trachtenberg said. “Given the importance of education in the 21st Century economy, Texas simply cannot afford to be bringing up the rear among the states in financial support of public education.”  

Added Mr. Turner: “We believe the trial court’s conclusion was correct: schools do not have the resources—or the local control over their tax rates—to meet the standards set forth in the Texas Constitution. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court justices did not agree. At this point, our districts can only hope that the Legislature will reverse course on its own, and make the changes needed to improve our system.”
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Read the full article on the SBISD School Zone.

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