At the end of the day Friday, Texas public school leaders across the state started sounding the alarm about the third special session of the Texas Legislature that convened Monday afternoon.
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation Thursday that counted education savings accounts, commonly called school vouchers, at the top of the agenda for the special session. School funding didn’t make the agenda, although immigration and COVID-19 vaccine mandates did.
“I’m gravely disappointed that private school subsidies or education savings accounts were posted as the first item on Gov. Abbott’s call of the special session and addressing public-school funding was not,” Denton ISD Superintendent Jamie Wilson said in a statement. “It’s listed under the misnomer of ‘Education Freedom,’ when we all know vouchers are about private school choice, not student school choice. Public schools are proud to serve all the students in our community.”
Gridlock over vouchers eventually stranded the school funding bill lawmakers debated during the 88th Legislature earlier this year, a failure that prompted Denton ISD to close its virtual academy ahead of the 2023-24 school year as one of the district’s cost-saving measures. The failed legislation would have added billions to public schools to give teachers raises. In other Texas school districts, leaders moved into 2023-24 with deficit budgets.
Denton school board members fumed after the session that lawmakers failed to fund public schools properly in spite of a record $32.7 billion budget surplus.
Abbott championed vouchers in a tour of the state that brought him to Denton during the legislative session, where he addressed a capacity crowd at Denton Calvary Academy. Last week, Abbott was still promoting education savings accounts, which would put thousands of dollars per pupil in a state-managed account for families who would like to use tax money to pay private school tuition or cover the costs of home-schooling.
“Together, we will chart a brighter future for all Texas children by empowering parents to choose the best education option for their child,” Abbott said in a statement.
The Denton Record-Chronicle asked local representatives for comment on school funding and education savings account prior to the special session’s start on Monday. Texas House Reps. Richard Hayes (District 57) and Kronda Thimesch (District 65) didn’t comment, nor did Texas Sens. Tan Parker (District 12) and Drew Springer (District 30). All are Republicans.
District 64 House Rep. Lynn Stucky, R-Denton, said he was going into the session supporting teacher raises and a bigger per-student allotment.
“I continue to engage in daily conversations with my constituents and lawmakers about the future of education and providing ample opportunities for our children and grandchildren,” Stucky said in an email.
Stucky said he supports funding for a $4,000 teacher pay increase in December, followed by another $4,000 pay increase in the spring of 2024. He said he also supports funding an increase of $1,100 per student in the basic allotment. He said he is also in support of “fully funding our needed safety and needed technology budget for our public schools.”
When it comes to vouchers, Stucky said he would consider allowing vouchers for poor Texas families and parents with children who have disabilities.
“I do not support a coupon for the rich,” Stucky said. “I also believe that higher wages and more competition increase the interest in teaching as a profession across the state, which is a net positive for our students.”
Frisco Republican Evelyn Brooks, the representative for District 14 on the Texas Board of Education, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the special session. Most of Denton County is in District 14. Brooks attended a recent Denton school board meeting to voice her objection to the district partnering with PediPlace, a nonprofit pediatric clinic based in Lewisville, in locating a satellite clinic at Denton ISD’s Fred Moore High School.
Argyle ISD Superintendent Courtney Carpenter sent an email to district parents and the community last Friday asking for support.
“Presently, Argyle ISD is one of few districts in the state that has received the Formula Transition Grant since 2019 and faces a significant funding cliff beginning with the 2024-2025 fiscal year when FTG expires,” Carpenter wrote. “Argyle ISD is still subject to losing approximately $250,000 back to the state via the Robin Hood ‘recapture’ formula.”
Recapture is the state policy of diverting money from affluent districts to poorer, struggling school districts. And while it might seem like just yesterday, Carpenter reminded Argyle residents that the funding formula for Texas students hasn’t changed for the last five years.
“There has been NO CHANGE to the per pupil basic allotment since 2019, despite 40-year record inflation. Did you know this equates to over $1,200 more per student than what we actually receive under the current funding formula?” Carpenter wrote.
Carpenter said the district had seen more than 550 letters sent to the governor’s office in support of more robust funding for Texas students.
Wilson concurred with Carpenter’s analysis of education funding.
“Public schools are underfunded by billions, and any available funding should be prioritized for teacher raises and to help public schools pay the bills,” Wilson said. “Because of record inflation, public schools need more than $14 billion in new per-student funding to have the same buying power as in 2019. The state only provided $2.6 billion during the most recent regular legislative session, and none of those funds was in the basic allotment used for employee raises.”
Texas school leaders have bristled over the state’s surging population and present economic boom not translating into more money for students.
“Due to inflation, the state expects record increases in revenue over the next two years,” Wilson said. “These increases are more than enough to cover increased funding for public schools and provide property tax relief. In fact, the Comptroller is estimating a massive increase in state revenue over the next two years compared to the past two.”
Vouchers are unpopular among public school administrators. During a Dallas Regional Chamber event at the end of September, Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde forecast dire straits in teacher recruitment should lawmakers pass vouchers.
“One thing that I can guarantee,” Elizalde said in a story broadcast by KERA News, “is if private school subsidies are part of this state, we will never have enough money in public education to pay our teachers what they are worth.”
Wilson pointed out that public schools educate more than 90% of Texas students and said that those students deserve fully funded schools before lawmakers take up discussion of diverting tax money to private schools and home-schooling, neither of which have the same accountability requirements that public schools do.
If lawmakers pass school vouchers, Wilson said there could be future economic implications for the state.
“Texas public school students are the future workforce of the 9th largest economy in the world. Every dollar invested in Texas Public Schools generates $57 in economic benefit to the state,” he said. “There is enough money to fully fund public education!”