Tag Archives: school finance reform

More info on the school finance bill

Posted on May 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s what we know. Before final negotiations, the House’s version of HB 3 cost $9.4 billion, and the Senate’s cost a whopping $14.8 billion, according to Texas Education Agency calculations. The final cost is around $11.6 billion, according to lawmakers, … Continue reading →

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Deal apparently reached on school finance

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We await the details. Texas’ top three political leaders declared Thursday that the Legislature had reached agreements on its three main 2019 priorities: A two-year state budget, a comprehensive reform of school finance and legislation designed to slow the growth … Continue reading →

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The tax swap is dead

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

For this session, at least. Most likely, barring anything strange. State Rep. Dan Huberty, the top public education leader in the Texas House, postponed two items of legislation Tuesday that would pay for long-term, ongoing school district tax cuts by … Continue reading →

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Where goes the tax swap plan from here?

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We start with the double down. Showing their usual united front, the state’s “Big Three” political leaders on Friday tried to remake their case for why the Texas Legislature should deliver on long-term, ongoing property tax relief before the session … Continue reading →

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More action on the school finance/property tax front

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From Tuesday: The Texas House gave preliminary approval to a priority property tax reform package Tuesday, teeing it up for negotiations with the Senate and impelling the upper chamber to act on an omnibus school finance measure. Together, the education … Continue reading →

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School finance and property tax update

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From last week. Blasting the Senate for taking a symbolic approach on school district taxes, a panel of House lawmakers heavily altered then approved the upper chamber’s version of priority property tax legislation late Thursday. And committee members pointedly included … Continue reading →

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House approves budget, and other news

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Always a major milestone. In Dennis Bonnen’s first major test as speaker of the Texas House, the chamber he oversees resoundingly passed a $251 billion budget Wednesday after a long but largely civil debate — a departure from the dramatics … Continue reading →

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House moves its school finance bill

Posted on March 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Step two of the process. The Texas House Public Education Committee unanimously signed off on a comprehensive $9 billion school finance and property tax reform bill Tuesday — but only after removing a controversial educator merit pay provision that had … Continue reading →

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Senate files its school finance bill

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Here it is. On the night of the deadline to file bills this legislative session, Texas Senate leaders turned in their first crack at legislation designed to reform school finance — rounding out a series of proposals in the upper … Continue reading →

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Here comes the House school finance plan

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Not surprisingly, they go bigger than the Senate. With Texas House lawmakers unveiling their long-awaited school finance proposal Tuesday and the Senate’s version likely close behind, teacher pay appears to be emerging as one of the biggest sticking points between … Continue reading →

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Dems propose their school finance bills

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

It’s good to have a broad array of options. The Texas House Democratic Caucus laid out a $14.5 billion plan for school finance reform and property tax relief Thursday, releasing a list of priorities in advance of a key school … Continue reading →

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State House mulls big increase in school funding

Posted on January 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a good start. As Texas’ Republican leadership calls for property tax cuts and a school finance overhaul, the Texas House on Monday pitched a bold proposal: Pump roughly $7 billion more state funds into public schools — but only … Continue reading →

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Our pretty decent revenue estimate

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve seen much worse. At a time when legislators are vowing to spend more money on public schools and slow the growth of Texans’ property tax bills, the state should have enough money at its disposal to do just that. … Continue reading →

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Here comes the latest school finance report

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

I figure the smart money is always on efforts like this to fail, but you never know. After hours of discussion Wednesday, a state panel studying school finance stripped its final report of language that blamed the state for inadequate … Continue reading →

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Many more school districts are feeling the pinch

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Not just HISD. Not by a long shot. For eight-straight years, Cypress-Fairbanks and Conroe ISDs earned the Texas Smart Schools Award, bestowed on school districts with prudent financial practices and high academic achievement. Now, Cypress-Fairbanks faces a $50 million deficit … Continue reading →

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Has Harvey changed anything politically?

Posted on September 25, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

You’d think it would, but it remains to be seen as far as I’m concerned. A month to the day after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, the reality of the storm was beginning to sink in on the minds … Continue reading →

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Let’s play two?

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, God, please, no. Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday put blame on the House — particularly Speaker Joe Straus — for the shortcomings of the special session and left the door open to calling another one. “I’m disappointed that all … Continue reading →

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Smell ya later, Senate

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

How about that? The special legislative session is over — in one chamber, at least. The Texas House abruptly gaveled out Sine Die – the formal designation meaning the end of a session – on Tuesday evening after voting to … Continue reading →

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House passes school finance bills

Posted on August 5, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I doubt they’ll meet a different fate than they did in the regular session, but kudos anyway. The Texas House on Friday passed a package of bills that would put $1.8 billion into public schools and help out struggling small, … Continue reading →

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What West Texas can do to improve their schools

Posted on July 5, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an op-ed from the Statesman about one educator in West Texas who has had enough. My hero this week is Graydon Hicks, Fort Davis superintendent of schools. A West Texas publication published his open letter to Gov. Greg Abbott … Continue reading →

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House still opposes vouchers

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Keep on keeping on, y’all. The top House education leader said Sunday that “private school choice” is still dead in the lower chamber. “We only voted six times against it in the House,” House Public Education Committee Chairman Dan Huberty … Continue reading →

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The special session could get a little testy

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Sow a little discord, Joe. We approve. Speaking to educators Wednesday, House Speaker Joe Straus took some jabs at the Senate for focusing on a bill to regulate public bathroom use instead of putting more than a billion dollars into … Continue reading →

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School finance bill is dead

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

It started with this. State Rep. Dan Huberty said Wednesday that he would not accept the Senate’s changes to his school finance bill, launching a last-ditch effort to hammer out a compromise with less than a week left in the … Continue reading →

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More on the HISD recapture re-referendum

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the full Chron story about Saturday’s re-vote on recapture. About 84 percent of constituents voted “for” HISD’s Proposition 1, giving the school district the green light to send $77.5 million to the Texas Education Agency rather than let the … Continue reading →

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House passes school finance reform bill

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Well done. State Rep. Dan Huberty succeeded at a difficult task Wednesday: getting the Texas House of Representatives to vote for legislation overhauling the funding system for public education, without a court mandate. After a four-hour discussion of more than … Continue reading →

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House releases school finance fix bill

Posted on March 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

A step in the right direction. The top public education policymaker in the Texas House unveiled a $1.6 billion plan on Monday that he described as a first step to overhauling the state’s beleaguered school funding system. At a Capitol … Continue reading →

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Senate to begin studying school finance changes

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what this looks like. Leaders in the Texas Senate are vowing to find ways to overhaul the state’s school finance system, saying a recent Texas Supreme Court decision granted them a prime opportunity to shake up the heavily … Continue reading →

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Where we begin with school finance

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

A nice overview from the Trib on school finance, where the problems are many and the budget situation is non-optimal. The current system is held together by a number of short-term fixes that have not been updated or reformed in … Continue reading →

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The recapture blues

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

What are you gonna do? At least once a year, an official from a property-wealthy Texas school calls Christy Rome and tells her they’re just not going to do it. They don’t want to send a big chunk of their … Continue reading →

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First look at how HISD will balance its budget

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Seems to be fairly well-received. The Houston school district’s interim superintendent on Thursday rescinded his proposal to reduce funding for gifted students amid concerns from parents and board members. At the same time, Ken Huewitt proposed bolstering the budgets of … Continue reading →

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Lawsuits and low oil prices

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Both are threatening the next Texas budget. Last week, lawyers for the state of Texas got the latest in a string of bad legal news. A lawsuit challenging the state’s foster care system as inhumane appeared to gain steam when … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court to hear school finance appeal in September

Posted on July 5, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Mark your calendars. The Texas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Sept. 1 in the long-running case challenging the state’s school-finance system. “We are very pleased that the court is moving so expeditiously,” attorney David Thompson, representing the Houston Independent … Continue reading →

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School finance bill dies

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Alas. A months-long effort to reform the state’s problem-plagued school finance system before the Texas Supreme Court weighs in came to an end on Thursday. Facing a slew of amendments and attempts to kill his bill on procedural grounds, House … Continue reading →

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Mostly positive reviews for the Aycock school finance plan

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

So far, so good. A plan from a top House lawmaker to overhaul the state’s public education funding system received largely favorable reviews from school districts during a marathon legislative hearing that ended late Tuesday night. “While this bill, some … Continue reading →

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