Latest news with #HouseBill2
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas sends $8.5 billion school funding bill to Gov. Abbott: Here's what's in it
The Brief The Texas Legislature passed a massive $8.5 billion school funding package, which has now been sent to Gov. Greg Abbott for approval. Nearly half of the funding ($4.2 billion) is earmarked for teacher and staff pay raises. While supporters praise the investment, critics have concerns about how funds are allocated. AUSTIN - As schools were dismissed for the summer across the state, the Texas Legislature passed a massive $8.5 billion school funding package. House Bill 2 was sent to Governor Abbott's office on Thursday night. The funding plan looks to provide much-needed dollars to a public school system that has struggled under previous funding formulas. "Satisfying all of those needs is an incredible undertaking, and I believe that this version of House Bill 2 before you now meets that moment," said State Rep Brad Buckley (R) Salado who sponsored HB2. By the numbers About half of the money, according to Buckley, $4.2 billion goes to pay & retention. The money is to have a very specific pay out: $2,500 for teachers with three to four years of experience. $5,000 for teachers with five or more years of experience in districts with more than 5,000 students. $4,000 for teachers for three to 4 years $8,000 dollars for teachers with five more years of experience in districts with 5,000 or fewer students. $500 Million will go for support staff pay raises. Those that qualify include entry-level teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses, custodians, bus drivers, and other support staff. Harvey Kronberg with the Quorum Report says teacher was used as a political hostage by Governor Greg Abbott in the fight over school choice. Then it was used as leverage in the debate over banning unregulated THC products by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick. Final passage of HB2 may still bring political fallout. "So, the philosophical difference is do you trust the local school boards, or do you trust the legislature? And I'll leave that to the public to decide," said Kronberg. By the numbers There are several funding carve-outs in HB2. $677 million for early learning programs. $430 million school safety. $850 million increase for special education. $200 million in charter facilities funding. $300 million increase for rural schools. $153 million for career and Vo-Technical $135 million for teacher certification initiatives There were also questions about how the legislation creates a new $1.3 billion allotment for basic costs. That, according to Buckley, is money for insurance premiums, TRS costs, utilities, transportation. What they're saying "I'll be voting for it. As I've said before, I would vote for a $1 increase to public education," said state Rep. James Talarico during Thursday's final discussion on HB2. The Round Rock Democrat noted while HB2 is large, from him, it gets a failing grade for keeping pace with inflation. HB2 is a mixed bag for public education advocates like Heather Sheffield. "It is great news, it's amazing. However, we just still have some concerns," said Heather Sheffield. Sheffield, who is with the Association of Texas Professional Educators, spoke to FOX7 about those concerns. "It really hamstrings the way that districts can spend the money because it was given in such a way that it must be spent in certain areas. And so it does complicate matters a little bit," said Sheffield. The next step may still involve damage control on the local level. "Unfortunately, we're going to see some things happening in the interim with districts having to cut their budgets and again, because 86% of most district budgets are staff. I think we're unfortunately going to see some staff reductions and more school closures around the state," said Sheffield. A big unknown is how separate legislation dealing with property taxes will impact local school budgets. "A lot of the allotments are also tied to a raise in property values, and if there is not a raise in property values we're going to have an issue there too. So again, this is great news in some aspects, but it is a cautionary tale because there is going to be more help needed in the future," said Sheffield. The Source Information in this article comes from House Bill 2, comments made on the House floor and analysis by Heather Sheffield with the Association of Texas Professional Educators and Harvey Kronberg with the Quorum Report.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
$8.5 billion school finance bill heads to Governor's desk for signature
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texas House lawmakers gave the thumbs-up to a $8.5 billion school finance bill, which some in leadership called the largest investment in public schools in the state's history. But some school district leaders said they worry about the lack of local control. House Bill 2 is now heading to the Governor's desk for his signature. PREVIOUS: Texas Senate advances $8.5 billion increase to public school funding The additional dollars have an emphasis on raising the salaries of teachers with at least three years experience, while creating new guidelines for how the dollars can be spent by school districts. 'Texas is a big state,' said State Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, on the House floor prior to passage. 'Every district in our region, from El Paso to Orange and from Texoma to Brownsville, has varying needs and requests for specific support from this legislature. Satisfying all of those needs is an incredible, incredible undertaking, and I believe that this version of House Bill Two before you now meets that moment as passed by Senate.' Of the $8.5 billion in the bill, almost half — $4.2 billion — is dedicated strictly for teacher and staff pay raises. Teachers in smaller school districts will earn a $4,000 pay raise in their third year of teaching which will then double when they reach their fifth year of experience. Teachers in larger school districts with more than 5,000 students will receive $2,500 after three years and $5,000 after being on the job for five years. There is an additional $500 million in flexible funding for non-administrative staff pay raises for entry level teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses, custodians and bus drivers along with other support staff. Related: A look inside the school finance and education savings account bills Mary Lynn Pruneda, director of education and workforce policy at Texas 2036, a nonpartisan policy research organization, said in total it is around an additional $1,600 per student in Texas. 'This is an investment in particularly paying teachers more. Paying our staff members in our districts more, but then also these certain programs that we know have a really high return on investment for students,' Pruneda said. Those programs include $677 million for early learning, $850 million for special education, and $153 million for career technical education. The bill sponsors also say it funds full-day pre-K. At least half of the state's public school districts are projected to receive at least $1,000 in additional per student funding with more than 350 of those districts receiving an additional $1,500 per student. There are more than 1,200 public school districts in Texas, all with their own unique challenges and needs depending on their size and location. Nexstar spoke to a few school leaders in districts with varying student population size. All the school leaders said they experienced some type of financial struggle over the past couple of years as the costs of day-to-day operations increased with a lack of additional funding from the state. School leaders in Thrall ISD, Mercedes ISD and Brownsville ISD all agreed they are grateful for any additional dollars from the state to go into their budget. Tommy Hooker, Thrall ISD superintendent, said the increase in teacher pay is monumental. His rural district with fewer than 900 students has grown in the past seven years, increasing by about 3% to 5% each year. Because of that, he's had to hire more staff without any additional financial assistance from the state and his teachers went without pay raises. Under the new bill, a majority of his teachers will see an $8,000 increase to their salary. 'We've not been able to do an increase like that ever locally,' Hooker said. He added that he believes the funding is 'adequate,' but expressed hesitations about the structure of the bill. Instead of pumping new dollars to raise the basic allotment, which is the base amount of money for per student funding, lawmakers decided to create separate allotments that have guidelines in how the dollars can be spent. They even created a new allotment called the allotment for basic costs. That allotment as $1.3 billion for costs like insurance premiums that are skyrocketing, costs associated with the Teacher Retirement System, utilities and transportation. Buckley said that allotment is to make sure the basic allotment dollars are being spent inside the classroom. But school leaders have expressed they are concerned this limits control at the local level. The basic allotment does provide more flexibility for school districts to use the money how they see fit, but the structure of this bill puts the new dollars into different sections that have a dedicated use. Dr. Jesus Chavez, Brownsville ISD superintendent, said the lack of state funding in recent years led to his school district and others dipping into their savings to cover rising costs. For his district, Chavez said he needs money to focus on renovations to older schools. 'They're giving us dollars but they're telling us where to spend them. Can I move five million or can I move eight million over to roofs and air condition systems? The answer is no,' Chavez said. Dr. Alicia Noyola, interim superintendent of schools for Mercedes ISD, said the district will close a couple of schools because of rising costs and limited funding. She too does not like the lack of flexibility with the new dollars. 'It doesn't provide us funds to address day-to-day operations,' Noyola explained. All of the superintendents said that they were happy with funds coming in, but that they hope to see additional dollars from the state in future sessions. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
3 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Texas Legislature passes public school funding
Texas public schools are about to get a long-awaited funding boost, with an $8.5 billion school finance bill awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott's signature. Why it matters: Public school funding has been a priority during the legislative session that ends Monday. The legislation increases teacher pay and per-student funding, but some public school advocates say it isn't enough to get districts out of multimillion-dollar deficits and rough waters ahead. Context: The last time Texas increased the basic allotment, or base funding per student, was 2019. Advocates have said the state would have needed to grow it by more than $1,300 per student since then to keep pace with inflation. The big picture: In the meantime, Texas districts have closed campuses to make ends meet. Districts have also faced teacher shortages and falling school performance ratings. The future of federal funding through the U.S. Department of Education is uncertain under the Trump administration. Flashback: In 2023, Abbott said he wouldn't touch a school funding bill until lawmakers created a private school voucher program. They didn't and school funding remained stagnant. This month, Abbott signed a $1 billion voucher program into law — participating families would get roughly $10,000 per child in taxpayer money for private school tuition — so he is expected to sign the school funding bill. Catch up quick: The final version of House Bill 2 is a compromise between the Texas House and Senate. The House, led in part by Rep. Diego Bernal (D-San Antonio), initially passed a bill to increase per-student funding by $395. The compromise bill raises per-student funding by $55 instead. How it works: District officials say the basic allotment is what gives them the most flexibility to address their particular needs. The final version of the bill focuses on educator pay, which accounts for more than $4 billion of the spending in it. What they're saying:"This is not going to come anywhere close to curbing the three-quarters, 75%-plus, of the districts that are operating a deficit budget," John Craft, superintendent of Northside ISD, San Antonio's largest district, told school board members Tuesday. "You don't see me doing back flips right now. This is not to say that the increase in the much-needed teacher compensation piece is not appreciated." Northside ISD adopted a budget with a deficit of $93.7 million this year. The other side: The Texas American Federation of Teachers union supported the compromise bill, "which makes significant investments in educators and support staff while hopefully also keeping the lights on for another two years in our public school classrooms," Zeph Capo, Texas AFT president, said in a statement. "This legislation provides the largest teacher pay raise in history, targeted funding for our special education students, investments in early childhood learning and additional funding for our schools to address the rising fixed costs of operation," House Public Education Committee chair Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado) said in a statement.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Texas Legislature approves $8.5 billion boost for public schools after years of stagnant funding
The Texas House on Thursday gave the final stamp of approval to legislation authorizing roughly $8.5 billion in funding for public schools, sending the bill to Gov. Greg Abbott 's desk where it is soon expected to become law. Final passage of House Bill 2, which will give schools additional money for teacher and staff salaries, educator preparation, special education, safety requirements and early childhood learning, comes on the heels of extensive negotiations between the House and Senate over how the final version of the bill would look. Abbott has already said he intends to sign the bill, a notable difference from two years ago when he and the Legislature withheld billions from public schools following a failed attempt to create a private school voucher program. This year, lawmakers vowed to approve vouchers and new public school funding in tandem. The Legislature finalized the education finance package on a 122-13 vote nearly a month after vouchers officially became law. The new dollars in HB 2 will allow school districts to begin making a dent in some of their long-standing challenges — a laundry list of items that includes reversing budget deficits, providing raises to full-time employees and keeping up with rising operational costs. Before the legislation's final passage on Thursday, Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, raised questions about the bill, underscoring that public schools' dire situation is partly the result of stagnant funding since 2019, the year lawmakers last raised schools' base dollars and passed a comprehensive education finance package. He sought to have Republican Rep. Brad Buckley of Salado, the bill sponsor, answer why the Republican-led Legislature has not passed major school funding legislation since then, including last session when the state had a historic $32.7 billion budget surplus at its disposal. The House public education chair only had a few moments to answer the question before lawmakers' speaking time expired, but his response instead focused on HB 2's investments in the basic costs of running a school and paying teachers what they deserve. HB 2 will provide districts with a $55 per-student increase to their base funding — a number short of the $395 per student hike proposed by the House earlier in the session and far less than the roughly $1,300 school officials said they needed to keep up with inflation. That base funding, known as the basic allotment, provides districts the most flexibility to address the range of needs on their campuses, from salaries and maintenance to instructional materials and athletics. The bill raises educator pay, which represents more than $4 billion of the proposal's overall funding. To do so, it dictates: HB 2 also includes funding for an expansion of the Teacher Incentive Allotment, a state program that awards raises to educators who demonstrate that they have improved their students' academic outcomes — currently about 6% of teachers. In place of a significant boost to the basic allotment, the bill will give districts $45 per student that they can only use to increase the salaries of school counselors, librarians, nurses and other support staff. The bill also grants schools $106 per student to pay costs associated with transportation, insurance, utilities and hiring retired educators, which has become more common as schools struggle to fill teacher vacancies. Furthermore, the legislation will overhaul Texas' special education funding system to account for the individual needs of each student; establish a compensation system for educator preparation and mentorship programs; set aside money for schools to better identify learning difficulties among the state's youngest students and fund prekindergarten services; and increase the money districts receive for safety upgrades. ___ This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Down to the wire: Texas Legislature OKs school funding, water, animal-friendly bills
With the end of the 2025 Texas legislative session approaching Monday's finish line, the House and Senate are engaging in legislative ping pong across the rotunda with bills approved by both chambers. In this version of ping pong, each chamber decides whether to accept the changes made by the other or escalate the debate by settling differences via a conference committee. Here are some of the highlights from Thursday's floor sessions. Sweeping legislation to boost funding for public schools was sent to the governor's desk Thursday, completing the "Texas Two Step" designed to change the face of K-12 education in Texas. Step one fulfilled Gov. Greg Abbott's wish for a school voucher-like program through Senate Bill 2, which will make public money available to help pay for private education. He signed it into law in an elaborate ceremony earlier this month. House Bill 2 is step two. It provides $4.2 billion for teacher pay raises, expands the merit-based pay program known as the Teacher Incentive Allotment, invests in teacher preparation and certification programs, and creates a new $1.3 billion fixed cost fund for districts to pay overhead expenses. It also rewrites the way the state's special education system works, setting aside $850 million more for such programs, and provides $430 million more for school safety. More: Would school vouchers help Texas students with special needs? House to weigh 'school choice' Abbott has signed legislation to expand the list of slogans available for license plates. Senate Bill 1568 allows the Department of State Health Services to diversify plate design options to boost public interest and increase funding. The first redesign, 'Spay. Neuter. Adopt.', will offer Texans an easy way to support pets. The Animal-Friendly License Plate Program, originally established in 1997, provides money for free and low-cost spay and neuter initiatives. One part of the major legislative package to address the need for a reliable water supply in Texas made it across the finish line Thursday when the House agreed to the Senate's changes to a proposed constitutional amendment. House Joint Resolution 7 is a referendum that would start the allocation of $1 billion annually to the Texas Water Fund for up to 10 years by redirecting a portion of state sales tax collections. The money will help pay for more water and to repair aging infrastructure for local entities. Texas voters will have final approval on the plan in November. The other part of the package, Senate Bill 7, was still awaiting final approval Thursday. This is the legislation that would put the law on the books. The constitutional amendment would authorize the legislation. More: Texas infrastructure fares better than U.S. average but needs major investment: report Legislation to restrict land ownership from people "domiciled" in nations hostile to the United States was sent to the governor's desk Thursday. Senate Bill 17, authored by Brenham Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst and sponsored by Rep. Cole Hefner, R-Mount Pleasant, in the House, seeks to bar individuals and companies from "adversarial nations" as identified by the U.S. national intelligence director — currently, China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — from owning land or real estate in Texas. It also gives the governor authority to add or remove countries from the list. Each chamber offered its own version of the legislation, and the proposal sent to the governor was the work of a conference committee, which reconciled the differences. The measure would grant the attorney general jurisdiction to investigate "land law" violations and would make it a state jail felony to knowingly purchase property despite the restrictions. The conference committee report passed largely along party lines. Democratic Rep. Gene Wu of Houston said it would have the unintended consequence of hindering some members of the Asian community with legal standing to be in the United States from being able to purchase homes and businesses. More: Some Texans, civil rights groups alarmed by bill to ban certain migrants from owning land This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Legislation on school funding, water, land ownership advances in Texas
