The latest school finance news from The Texas Tribune.
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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The Texas Supreme Court's school finance ruling means lawmakers now have a moral obligation to appropriately invest in the next generation of Texans, writes Kendall Pace, president of the Austin ISD board of trustees. Full Story
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A Texas Supreme Court decision saying the state’s school funding system is a big, stinking mess — but not an unconstitutional one — might be just the medicine to keep things just the way they are. Full Story
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday issued a ruling upholding the state’s public school funding system as constitutional, while asserting it could be better. Full Story
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Full video of my 2/25 conversation with state Rep. J.M. Lozano, R-Kingsville, and state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville. Full Story
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At our 1/22 symposium on urban public education, I talked accountability, demographic change, school choice and school finance with Mike Morath, the state's new commissioner of education. Full Story
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