What you need to know
While the state addressed teacher pay, special education funding and property insurance for higher-risk districts along the coast, those priorities resulted in less funding allocated for general areas, such as the basic student allotment, which is the amount of money a district gets per enrolled student. It was increased from $6,160 to $6,215, Community Impact previously reported.
CCISD Chief Financial Officer Alice Benzaia said the state's directing funding toward specific programs this session was different from previous ones.
“In prior legislative sessions, the funds would have been built into the basic allotment, and then districts could utilize those funds for how they felt was best for their district,” Benzaia said.
Still, CCISD officials highlighted the new funding, which totals millions of dollars for staffing, insurance and special education—areas that are increasing in cost over time, Benzaia said.
CCISD is facing a projected $13.5 million shortfall for FY 2025-26 as of mid-July, according to district documents.
Zooming out
Advocates for school funding, such as Raise Your Hand Texas, have highlighted the billions in funding for schools, but note that funding for many areas still fell short. RYHT Dean of Policy Bob Popinski said the new funding that went toward the basic allotment was carried over from other funding mechanisms.
In a sense, the state opted against raising the funding amount for one area and instead placed it into the basic student allotment. As a result, advocates like Popinski have argued that the additional funding isn’t truly new.
"It's a really complicated way of saying they froze one program to fund another," Popinski said.
However, lawmakers and dozens of school associations across the state praised the bill, with some calling it a “lifeline” for cash-strapped schools, Community Impact previously reported.
Some of those highlights include:
- $3.7B for teacher pay
- $1.3B for fixed costs, such as transportation and insurance
- $850M for special education resources
- $430M for school safety
- $55 increase to per-student basic allotment
CCISD will adopt its budget in August. Officials have discussed the possibility of a voter-approved tax rate in November, Community Impact previously reported. However, those conversations have not evolved as of early August.
Reporter Hannah Norton contributed to this article.
