Bryan, Texas (KBTX) – Texas legislators have approved a swept education reform package that will pass a historic school voucher program and nearly $8 billion in new public school funding.
The school’s voucher plan has been in the works for many years, with some voucher proposals being repeatedly shut down through bipartisan efforts up until now.
Earlier on Thursday morning, Texas House approved a $1 billion plan to create an Educational Savings Account (ESA) and gave families public money to help pay tuition and other expenses for private schools.
“For every family, for every child there, they have an additional option when it comes to schooling,” state legislator Paul Dyson (R-District 14). “The focus should always be on the children and the educational options available to them.”
Since Gov. Greg Abbott made school vouchers a priority, local school districts have been expressing concern over losing vital public school funds.
“We have staffing students in the classroom, so that’s going to be detrimental to the budget,” CFO Heather Wilson explained at College Station ISD. She said, “It’s just an unknown thing. Are they going to go to private schools or stay in public schools?”
The programme is tied to public education funding. This means that the amount available changes as school budgets change.
“From a public education perspective, you want to see that funds are always not split. But that’s not something we really have control over,” Brian ISD CFO Kevin Beatho told KBTX. “The bottom line is something we have to work with what we receive and we will receive that fund and move forward.”
After hours of intense debate and over 40 amendments, the bill passed 83-63 votes.
The House has also approved another bill, nearly $8 billion, in funding for new public schools. That money is supposed to increase $4,000 teacher pay raises, increased student allocations, school safety, special education and more funding for transportation.
The bill would increase the basic public school allocation by nearly $400, increasing its $6,160 to $6,555.
“It’s not enough to compensate for inflation,” Beaso offered. “The House bill proposes $395.”
Brian and the College Station ISD leader said despite this boost, the school has been keeping up from years of flat funding and rising costs. However, they expressed their gratitude for the bump.
“Some of the inflation costs to the district were up 300% as much as insurance coverage,” Wilson added. “It could probably be close to an increase of $1,300 on the basic allocation. So, that’s not where we want it, but it’s something.”
He said that both districts are working as efficiently as possible to work to prepare their budget for next year.
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