The 88th Texas legislative session began Jan. 10, and public education is once again the focus of many prospective bills.
Statewide, public school funding remains a top priority for lawmakers, educators and advocates. Because schools receive funding based on attendance, some administrators said their districts lost funding during the 2021-22 school year.
Locally, Katy ISD’s priorities are legislation affecting school finance, state testing and accountability, teacher recruitment and retention, and House Bill 4545.The state finances schools through the basic allotment, which is the amount of money schools receive per student.
Funding is based on average daily attendance, or the number of students at school on average. Average daily attendance is the sum of students present throughout the school year divided by the number of days that schools are required to be open, per the Texas Education Agency.
Schools then earn $6,160 per student who meets the ADA threshold. But when a student is frequently absent, their school loses money, even if the school’s day-to-day operations do not change. Several bills have been filed this session to tackle this allotment.
Local priorities
Katy ISD’s board Vice President Lance Redmon said the district’s priorities were determined through insight from the community, collected from fall 2022 Listening Circles hosted by the board.
“Developing and advocating for these high-level priorities aids our district in establishing a dialogue with state representatives that ensures the perspectives, values, and priorities of our school community are at the forefront of legislative decisions impacting our students, staff, and families,” Redmon said in an emailed statement.
On Dec. 12, KISD released documentation on its priority initiatives ahead of the 88th legislative session.
The district will support developing a formula-driven index to increase the basic allotment per student that outpaces inflation. This basic allotment has not changed since 2020, per the district’s legislative priorities doc.
Additionally, the district supports administering district-based assessments that track individual progress and legislation that reduces the number of state-required tests.
Teacher recruitment and retention is another priority for the district. The legislative priorities document identifies insufficient pay and excessive workloads which are “driving teachers out of the workforce.”
To further retention, KISD will support bills to increase funding for teacher compensation, temporarily suspend penalties for hiring retired teachers through 2025 and to support state-subsidized college tuition for students studying K-12 education to build a pipeline for future teachers, per district documents.
