House Approves $7.7 Billion School Funding Bill

The Texas House on Wednesday afternoon overwhelmingly approved an amended $7.7 billion school finance bill that would increase school funding, change the way the state awards special education money and expand teacher incentive programs.

The final vote was 144-4. All four votes opposed to the bill came from Republicans: Reps. Brian Harrison of Midlothian, David Lowe of North Richland Hills, Brent Money of Greenville and Mike Olcott of Fort Worth.

Austin Rep. Sheryl Cole and San Antonio Rep. Josey Garcia, both Democrats, were absent from the vote.

The legislation under consideration on the floor was the House Public Education Committee’s substitute version of House Bill 2. The original draft of that bill, written by the chair of the public education committee, Salado Republican Rep. Brad Buckley, would have slightly increased the state’s basic allotment, the per-student figure it uses to calculate money to send to school districts.

Since 2019, the basic allotment has stayed at $6,160 per student, without any increases since then to counteract several years of high inflation during the pandemic, forcing many school districts across the state to make painful cuts and close schools.

As initially drafted, HB 2 would have increased the basic allotment by $220, or about 3% above its current level. The committee substitute that the full House considered on Wednesday bumped that increase up to $395, a roughly 6% increase.

Many Democrats during debate expressed disappointment at the size of that increase, which is still far below the $1,000 increase that public school advocates were asking for two years ago. But others, including San Antonio Rep. Diego Bernal, the vice chair of the public education committee, argued that a minor increase would do more for school districts than no increase at all.

Bernal on Wednesday also made good on a promise he made during the public education committee meeting at the start of the month, introducing an amendment to move funding around to fund full-day preschool in Texas. After much debate, the House overwhelmingly approved his amendment, 128-18.

To be technical, Bernal amended Buckley’s initial “perfecting amendment” to HB 2 with that provision. Buckley’s amendment made some other changes, including restoring hold harmless language for school maintenance and operation (M&O) funding that had been in previous iterations of the bill. His amendment also passed.

With House Bill 2 approved by the full House, it now heads to the Senate for further scrutiny and debate.