House panel lays out $1.9 billion school funding plan,
House Bill 21 resurrects version of package that died in regular session.
After a flurry of action over the past few days in the Senate focusing on school finance reforms, the House Public Education Committee introduced its own $1.9 billion education funding fix Monday.
House Public Education Chairman Dan Huberty, R-Houston, has filed House Bill 21, resurrecting a version of his big funding package that died during the regular legislative session.
“We can come up with the reasons why we don’t want to pay for it or whatever political discussion or comments that people will make ... but the reality of it is that we have an opportunity to do something that is very important,” Huberty said during an education committee hearing Monday.
The committee is expected to vote on HB 21 on Tuesday.
The per-student basic allotment would increase to $5,350 from $5,140 under HB 21. Increasing the basic allotment would reduce the recapture payments that property-wealthy school districts must pay to the state to help property-poor school districts by approximately $389 million over the next two years.
The Austin school district pays more than any other school district in the state — an estimated $534 million next school year.
“Our taxpayers have seen 13.5 percent property value increases every year for the past four years. We’re really at a loss for words for how to move forward,” said Amber Elenz, an Austin school district trustee, who added that she is in favor of the bill if it reduces the district’s recapture payments.
Some people who spoke Monday said they couldn’t support the bill in large part because of a new provision that would give public charter schools $25 million in first-time funding to pay for construction and facilities.
“I don’t think there’s any clarity in the law that says what happens to that property if a charter is revoked or closes,” said Portia Bosse with the Texas State Teachers Association.
Charter schools and traditional school districts tend to butt heads because they vie for the same pot of public dollars even though charter schools are operated privately.
Other parts of HB 21 include: A $200 million hardship grant program established for about 200 school districts slated to lose Additional State Aid for Tax Reduction in September $75 million in facilities funding for school districts New funding to help schools educate children with dyslexia and related disorders and more funding to help schools educate English learners
Removing outdated funding formula elements and giving a boost to small school districts
Expanding high school career and technology funding to eighth grade
The bill would be paid for by delaying certain education payments until the 2020-21 biennium. It’s unclear how much of the bill aligns with Gov. Greg Abbott’s special session agenda. If elements of the bill deviate too much, House opponents could challenge it as not germane.
HB 21 would provide more than $1 billion more to public education than the Senate’s priority education legislation, which more closely reflects Abbott’s agenda. Senate Bill 2, which passed Friday, also would create a hardship grant and facilities funding for charter schools and school districts to the tune of $270 million. But it would create a private school scholarship program for students with disabilities wanting to leave public schools, compared by critics to private school vouchers, which have proved unpopular in the House.