Texas is tardy with federal school funding
State leadership wants to use the latest education stimulus for other budget areas
A fight is brewing in Texas government over $17.9 billion in federal education funds that the state has not yet disbursed to public school districts, months after state leaders shifted $1.3 billion in stimulus money designated for education to plug holes elsewhere in the state budget.
The latest money, approved in federal stimulus packages this year, is intended to ease the financial burdens schools have experienced over the past year and to help students who have fallen behind through virtual learning. But to access the dollars, federal officials say Texas leaders must maintain their pre-pandemic education funding levels as a proportion of the state’s overall budget, potentially forcing the state to commit an extra $1.2 billion in an already tight budget year.
In short, the federal government is requiring state leaders to use the stimulus money to supplement existing education funding, not use it to free up funding for other needs.
State leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have asked the U.S. Education Department for more flexibility to potentially use the funds elsewhere. But advocates — and Democrats who have criticized Republican state leadership in the past for failing to fund public education — say a $1 billion investment is a small trade-off for nearly $18 billion in return and that schools should get the money that was appropriated specifically for them.
State lawmakers, meanwhile, are putting pressure on Texas leaders to tap into the funds as soon as possible. The Texas House of Rep
resentatives has approved an amendment to the state budget that would require officials to access the funds as soon as possible and use them only to augment existing allocations, rather than replace them.
“Time is of the essence because school leaders are drafting their budgets as we speak, and they are feeling their budgets tightened with rising costs related to COVID-19, additional student needs and no additional help from the state that is sitting on billions of dollars,” said state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, author of the amendment.
The state’s inaction could mean that local school administrators cut back on summer school programs, delay hirings or reduce extracurricular activities to make ends meet while politicians hash out the details, said Bob Popinski, the director of policy for education advocacy group Raise Your Hand Texas.
“They’ve kind of hit the pause button because they don’t know how much and when this funding is going to actually get to the district,” he said.
The allocations could range from hundreds of thousands of dollars in small districts to hundreds of millions in larger ones. ‘Not a single dollar’
During the first round of stimulus funding last year, Congress allocated $1.3 billion in public education funding to Texas. At the time, Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and then-House Speaker Dennis Bonnen decided to move it into the state’s general fund.
“We want to make sure that doesn’t happen this time,” Rodriguez said.
House members separately approved another amendment Thursday that would call for a special session of the Legislature before any federal stimulus funds can be appropriated. Neither amendment is binding — and both would require an OK from the Senate before making it into the final version of the state budget — but their approval sends a statement to Texas’ top leaders who have so far managed pandemic finances without approval of the Legislature.
The latest funds include $5.5 billion for K-12 education that became available in January through the second federal stimulus package. The third round of funding earmarked $12.4 billion in education funds for Texas, about two-thirds of which is currently available to the state.
Though most school funding comes from local property taxes, Texas’ last biennial budget set aside $11.6 billion for public education.
Deadline remains unclear
It’s not totally clear when Texas must decide whether to accept the money. If the state takes the funds and does not meet the federal requirements, the Education Department could try to recover that money or withhold future funding.
Spokespeople for the Texas Education Agency and the governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment, but the TEA has told media outlets in the past that it would review federal guidance on the subject and support elected officials in their decision-making process.
Dozens of other states have already tapped into their federal funds, making Texas an outlier in its refusal to immediately accept the money. All 13 Democratic members of Texas’ congressional delegation sent a letter to the Education Department this week to condemn the state’s delay, asking federal officials to strictly enforce the provisions requiring the state to maintain its previous funding commitments.
“These funds were intended to help schools address learning loss, meet mental health challenges with the increase of youth suicide, provide tutoring and remedial assistance, close the digital divide, improve ventilation and a host of other locally determined needs,” the members wrote. “But due to bad faith denial and delay of these funds by Gov. Abbott, not a single dollar of the already-approved … funds have reached Texas schools.”