The chart below is based on one done in late February by State Representative Gene Wu, showing real (inflation-adjusted) spending per Texas student.
The amounts for 2014 and 2015 reflect what is being proposed in the budget that the Senate will debate today.
Despite the improvements made by the Senate Finance Committee, school districts will still have less money to spend per student than they did before the cuts made by the 2011 legislature. Unless more support is provided to schools, the problems of overcrowded grade school classrooms will continue, harming students’ ability to learn.
All spending and enrollment (average daily attendance) information is from the Legislative Budget Board and state budget documents; the only assumption made by CPPP is that inflation in 2012 and beyond will be 1.6 percent, a conservative estimate.