The latest school finance news from The Texas Tribune.
With funding tighter than the previous legislative session, lawmakers are not expected to inject much more money into public education. For now, some are backing a plan to increase money to all school districts through the general appropriations bill. Full Story
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Use the Tribune's Texas Public Schools Explorer to find graduation rates, test scores and more for all of the 1,219 school districts and 8,646 public school campuses in Texas. Full Story
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School districts lost a court case that could have forced the state to reform its school finance system, and federal officials toured Texas to investigate claims that special education services were arbitrarily capped. Full Story
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Rising property values in Texas should have lowered school property tax rates. But they didn't, and you can thank the folks who write the state budget for that. Full Story
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Had the state kept its share of school funding constant for the past 10 years, voters might not be griping about rising property taxes. The state is spending more than it used to, but it's spending less per student. Full Story
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It's hard to get property tax relief out of a state government that does not levy a property tax. But it's tempting turf for politicians in Texas, and they're going to try again when they meet in January. Full Story
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Winning isn't everything when it comes to party control. If it was, Texas lawmakers would have nothing to do. But they still have plenty to fight about, and Republicans in Washington, D.C., will, too. Full Story
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Harris County elected a Democratic district attorney, Houston ISD voters thumbed their noses at the Texas school finance system and Austin voters backed a $720 million transportation bond. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott turned down Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's suggestion that he call a special session to overhaul school funding. Full Story
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Four Republican incumbents in North Texas are fighting off Democratic challengers in what could be some of November's closest contests. Full Story
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In a bipartisan sparring match, members of the House Public Education Committee challenged proponents of using taxpayer dollars — or tax breaks — to help parents send their kids to private or parochial schools. Full Story
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Full video of my 10/4 conversation with state Reps. Four Price, R-Amarillo, and John Smithee, R-Amarillo, on the campus of Amarillo College. Full Story
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Texas House budget and public education leaders said Wednesday that the best way to overhaul the state’s school finance system is to increase the base amount of money it gives to each district per student. Full Story
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The state’s escalating dependence on local tax dollars to fund public schools is expected to be a focus during a joint hearing of two House committees Wednesday and Thursday. Full Story
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Voters in the state's largest school district can say no to sending money to other school districts, putting Texas lawmakers in a bind and — maybe — raising their own school taxes in the process. Full Story
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Texas has deemed an increasing number of schools as property-wealthy, requiring them to give up a share of their local tax dollars to help buoy poorer districts. Full Story
State Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, wrote to his constituents about school finance and used these phrases along the way: statewide commercial property tax, consolidated funding districts, and statewide property tax. Yikes. Full Story
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The fault lines that will define efforts to improve the state's system of funding education came into sharp focus Wednesday as a Senate panel began studying how to improve the "efficiency" of public schools in Texas. Full Story
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Should Texas fund public schools based on their academic performance rather than just giving them a certain amount of money per student? State lawmakers are beginning to explore that idea. Full Story
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An ambitious new player has emerged in the controversial effort to use taxpayer dollars to help Texas parents send their kids to private or religious schools. Full Story
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