Executive Director of Communications Anthony Tosie gave Community Impact a summary via email of Northwest ISD’s stance on several bills that have advanced to the floor of at least one chamber and been assigned to both chambers.
The gist
1. House Bill 2: Basic allotment and compensation increases - This bill proposes an increase to the basic allotment, which is currently set at $6,160 per student, and hasn't been adjusted for inflation since 2019, despite rising costs.
It also proposes additional compensation for teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians and makes significant investments in special education funding. It is currently pending in the House Public Education Committee.
Tosie said NISD supports a much-needed increase in the basic allotment, which serves as the primary funding system for Texas public schools. However, Tosie said HB2’s increase to the basic allotment represents less than 30% of the funding increase necessary to match 2019 levels when comparing purchasing power.
“While beneficial, the proposed increase falls far short of addressing rampant inflation and a lack of purchasing power for Texas public schools,” Tosie said. “Because the basic allotment has not been updated in six years, schools have faced drastic budget shortages simply to address fixed costs that cannot be eliminated.”
2. Senate Bill 26: Teacher pay increases - This bill was approved by the Senate and will now move to the House. For districts with 5,000-plus students, teachers would receive $2,500 with three-to-five years of experience and $5,500 for those with more than five years.
Tosie said Northwest ISD supports teacher raises, though Senate Bill 26 does not address additional funding challenges of school districts.
“By focusing solely on teacher raises instead of addressing base per-student funding, school districts would be unable to address other fixed costs that have drastically increased,” Tosie said. “This bill would also not provide funding for school districts to support student programs and class sizes.”
He added that since the bill relies on a pass-through that lawmakers would have to renew, NISD officials are concerned nonrenewal of the funding would cause significant damage to public schools during the ongoing Texas school funding crisis.
“Northwest ISD supports House Bill 2 over Senate Bill 26, as the former increases the basic allotment while mandating teacher raises,” Tosie said.
3. Senate Bill 568: Increased funding for special education - This bill received testimony and is now pending in the Senate Public Education Committee.
Tosie said NISD supports funding increases to special education services since the SPED allotment has not been updated since the 1980s.
“According to the state's own analysis, Texas underfunds special education in public schools by more than $1.7 billion,” Tosie said. “While we are appreciative of any update to SPED funding, we are concerned the proposed $800 million increase falls far short of meeting the needs of SPED populations.”
4. Senate Bill 686: Allows open transfers between districts - This bill, now under consideration in the Texas House after passing the Senate, would require districts to accept any transfer student from outside the district if a school has capacity.
Tosie said NISD opposes the erosion of local control and damage to its ability to adequately serve students that would result from forcing all public school districts to accept open enrollment.
“Texas public school districts serve those who live within their communities and meticulously plan based on demographic projections,” Tosie said. “Forcing all school districts to adopt open-enrollment policies would create chaos in planning and irrevocably damage the educational services schools provide students.”
