House directs cash at property-poor districts
Budget tries to narrow gap highlighted in school finance trial.
Only a smattering of local school districts would get a significant infusion of new money under the budget proposal up for debate in the Texas House on Thursday.
House budget-writers have included an additional $2.5 billion for school aid in the 201415 budget bill as they try to restore some of the $4 billion cut in 2011. The House education proposal is about $1 billion more than what the Texas Senate approved weeks ago.
Much of the added money is directed at school districts that have been getting less in per-student funding for several years, a disparity that was underscored during the recent school finance trial.
In February, state District Judge John Dietz ruled the state’s school finance system unconstitutional based in part on funding differences
between school districts that are propertypoor and their propertywealthier peers. Dietz’s ruling is certain to be appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.
“As we add this money back, we need to add it where it does the best job of increasing and improving equity,” said state Rep. John Otto, RDayton, who crafted the education budget in the Appropriations Committee.
In Central Texas, that means the Pflugerville and Hutto school districts would reap far more under the House plan than the Austin, Eanes and Lake Travis school districts.
The Pflugerville district, for example, now gets about $5,300 per student and is in line to get an additional $265 in state aid per student during the first year of the 2014-15 budget, according to estimates from school finance consultants Moak, Casey & Associates.
But Eanes, where perstudent funding exceeds $6,300, would receive only $37 per student in new money for the first year.
The property-wealthy Eanes district, which has absorbed a $1,014 per-student reduction over the past two years, sent an email to parents last week asking them to push their legislators to restore more of what was cut from Eanes.
“This is a far cry from the $5.4 million reduction in state aid we saw during last session, and the $54 million we send in recapture payments to the state,” the email said. “The time is now — please contact your legislators and tell them we’ve given enough, and it’s time for them to give it back!”
Austin’s situation is similar to Eanes’, and it will receive only an additional $28 per student in the first year followed by $16 the next year. For the current school year, Austin lost $737 in perstudent funding under the 2011 budget cuts.
The lower propertywealth districts have been operating with far less for years and will continue to lag in funding even after they get these additional funds, said Wayne Pierce, executive director of the Equity Center, a coalition of low property-wealth districts.
The focus should not be on “who is getting the most or the least but where are they after this session is over,” Pierce said.
In Hutto, the 2011 budget cuts led to school closings, layoffs, fee increases for extracurricular activities and the elimination of arts and music programs. While the upcoming boost to the district wouldn’t completely restore the cuts, it could mean a break for taxpayers, who voted to shoulder some of the weight of those cuts.
Voters approved a 13cent bump in property taxes after the district cut 11 percent of its staff and 25 percent of its administration. The $207 perstudent boost in 2013 is almost half of what the district got in extra tax revenue, about $550 per student.
“We’re trying to get back to where we were before. We’ve gotten very close to the instructional levels,” Hutto district spokeswoman Emily Grobe said. “We did say whenever we get to the point where the state has resolved this lawsuit and we know what’s going to happen, we will take this burden off our taxpayers.”
Grobe said the extra funding is a relief, especially because of its distribution to the propertypoor districts like Hutto. “Getting this money back is certainly going to make a big difference for us.”
The challenge for lawmakers has been striking the right balance between improving equity across the state while restoring the deep cuts that were borne by everyone, including the wealthier districts, said state Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, a member of the Appropriations Committee whose district includes Eanes.
“We don’t want to equalize down,” Howard said. “We want to equalize up.”