A Houston-area state lawmaker led a group of Democrats from across Texas in urging Gov. Greg Abbott to call for a special legislative session dedicated to increasing funding for public schools. Many districts are facing financial crises at a time when Republican leaders such as Abbott are advocating for a program in which taxpayer money could be used for private school tuition.
In a Monday letter authored by state Rep. Jon Rosenthal and signed by nearly 40 other members of the Texas House of Representatives, the elected official from the Cypress area called on the governor to bring lawmakers back to Austin and address what he described as "serious budget challenges from inflation, historic underfunding, and unfunded mandates that will drive drastic budget cuts in ISDs across the state."
Local districts Cy-Fair ISD, Houston ISD and Spring Branch ISD, which are among the largest school districts in the state, have announced staffing reductions and other cost-saving measures to combat budget shortfalls for the 2024-25 school year. District leaders have in some cases blamed a lack of support from state lawmakers, who have not increased schools' per-student funding allotment since 2019, and community members in Cy-Fair ISD recently challenged their elected trustees to demand more money from Texas officials.
"The Texas State Constitution calls for us to provide for our neighborhood public schools," Rosenthal wrote in his letter, which he posted to social media. "Right now, we have $5 billion appropriated and unspent for public education in the current state budget, plus a current surplus of $18 billion that is projected to grow to $21.3 billion by next session (in early 2025). We have the resources available to better fund our schools, so we should act."
I’m proud to have so many of my colleagues join me in this call to the governor to fulfill our constitutional duty to adequately fund public schools and address this unfolding crisis across the state! #txlege pic.twitter.com/Nv8D92XN0I
— Jon Rosenthal (@Jon_RosenthalTX) May 13, 2024
Abbott, who as governor has sole authority to convene special sessions and determine legislative priorities during those sessions, called a record four special sessions last year in part to try to enact a school voucher program that would allow Texas families to use state funds to help their children attend private or parochial schools. The attempt has been thwarted by Democrats and also a coalition of Republicans from rural parts of the state, with the group voting in the Texas House last November to remove a voucher provision from a broad education bill that would have also increased funding for public schools.
Abbott referenced that vote in his own letter Monday that was written in response to the group of Democrats from the Texas House.
“As you surely recall, I worked with Representative Brad Buckley during special sessions No. 3 and No. 4 last year to design a school choice and public school funding package that would have achieved exactly what you seek,” Abbott wrote. “It was a bill that added $6 billion in school funding, including teacher pay raises and additional funding for school safety. All of the representatives who signed this letter voted to kill that package. The makeup of the Texas House of Representatives has not changed since you rejected that proposal, which means there is no possibility for it to pass during another special session unless you are willing to change your position to support the Buckley bill. I do believe, however, that with the changes taking place in the Texas House, we will have an opportunity to reconsider this legislation in the next regular session.”
Tara Cummings, a community member in Cy-Fair ISD northwest of Houston, said during a school board meeting earlier this month that "Abbott is holding public schools, our children and our collective future hostage in a temper tantrum over vouchers." She echoed a sentiment expressed by other community members who called on their local trustees to push back against state officials.
Rosenthal, who also spoke at a Cy-Fair ISD board meeting this month to address the district's $138 million budget shortfall, wrote in his letter Monday that he wants to see his fellow lawmakers increase the basic per-student allotment for public schools and also their school safety allotment. A law that passed in 2023 requires all Texas public schools to have at least one armed security officer present during school hours, and some Houston-area districts have said the $15,000 per-school allotment that came with the measure is not enough to implement it.
Houston ISD, the largest district in Texas, cited inadequate funding from the state as one of the reasons it is making staff cuts across the district in response to an estimated $450 million budget shortfall. HISD is completing its first school year under state-appointed leadership.
Leaders for Spring Branch ISD, which is facing a budget shortfall of about $35 million for next school year, have been especially critical of state officials. Trustees for the Houston-area district voted last year against making their annual wealth-redistribution payment to the state, even flying a "Come and take it" flag outside their district headquarters.
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