Scaling back STAAR, boosting public school funding and teacher quality focus of Texas bills

AUSTIN – The Dallas Morning News reports that a flurry of bills filed in the Texas House on Thursday tackle public school funding, STAAR tests, teacher quality and a voucher-style program to funnel public money toward private school tuition. The slate of bills came amid a tense legislative session in which education is a central theme. “We are very proud of what this education package does,” Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows said. Texas schools face strained budgets due to inflation and other factors. However, the basic per-student allotment that schools receive hasn’t changed since 2019. A handful of North Texas districts have closed campuses or are debating such moves. Fort Worth ISD, for example, may shutter up to two dozen schools.

Under the House’s plan, public schools would see the base amount of funding per-student go up by $220. The basic allotment has sat at $6,160 since the last major overhaul of school funding. School leaders say that is inadequate to cover the cost of educating Texas schoolchildren, especially amid the rising costs of everything from bus fuel to insurance. To keep up with inflation, officials say the figure should be at least $1,000 higher. Some school leaders know such a large increase isn’t likely. Still, they want to see movement so they can afford teacher pay raises, safety upgrades and other improvements. “We want to work with lawmakers to figure out: What is the best investment we can make, that’s prudent, that’s sustainable, that’s within the state’s means, that can make the biggest impact for our kids?” Plano schools chief of staff Danny Stockton previously said. Efforts to boost the basic allotment failed in 2023 when it was tied to proposals for education savings accounts, which would allow families to spend public dollars on private schools.