Texas is responsible for the education of 5.3 million school children. Money matters in education, and we need a funding system that meets the needs of our large and diverse student population.
Texas has a long history of working to improve its school finance system, and the 2019 Legislature continued these efforts with the passage of House Bill 3. The new law made investments in early education as well as college and career readiness. Funding for English language learners and special education students, however, remains outdated.
In addition to changing how the state distributes resources to some of our educational programs, HB 3 also changes how funds for schools are collected. The inclusion of large and on-going property tax cuts, which require greater amounts of state-aid to keep school funding level, will hurt the state’s ability to make future classroom investments.
To understand the changes in HB 3 and the next steps need to truly create a 21st-century school finance system, read our new in-depth analysis of the new school finance law: There’s a New School Finance Law in Texas… Now What?
This blog post was written by Economic Opportunity Policy Intern Anna Gu.