The Texas comptroller's office is reviewing the finances and spending decisions of four public school districts: Austin, El Paso, Prosper and Barbers Hill ISDs.
Gov. Greg Abbott requested the review in August to identify whether schools are directing taxpayer dollars toward students, teachers and classrooms rather than toward administrative costs, according to information from the two state agencies.
What you need to know
Comptroller Don Huffines said the review is intended to "ensure taxpayer funds are being spent responsibly," while Abbott previously pointed to concerns about "administrative bloat" after the state legislature increased public school funding by $8.4 billion last year.
The governor directed Huffines to look into the spending of "four ISDs of varying sizes and geographic locations." The districts were selected by the comptroller's office and announced on Oct. 5.
"I’ve informed Gov. Greg Abbott about the school districts we are examining," Huffines said in a statement. "Our office is committed to providing a clear assessment that helps Texans understand how their education dollars are being used."
For the 2024-25 school year, the Texas Education Agency gave the selected districts the following financial ratings:
Austin ISD: B rating; score of 88 (about 69,000 students)
El Paso ISD: A rating; score of 92 (about 46,000 students)
Prosper ISD: A rating; score of 94 (about 33,000 students)
Barbers Hill ISD: A rating; score of 100 (about 8,000 students)
Austin and Prosper ISDs are in Community Impact's coverage areas. According to previous reporting, Austin ISD passed an $887 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2026-27 after making $205 million in gross cuts this summer. Prosper ISD adopted a budget with an expected $42.2 million shortfall.
Something to note
Austin ISD is also subject to potential state intervention after two of the district's middle schools received their fifth consecutive failing accountability ratings in August. If a Texas public school receives five failing ratings in a row, state law requires the TEA commissioner to close that campus or replace the district’s elected board of trustees with a state-appointed board of managers.
Eight Texas school districts, including Houston ISD, are currently operating under state boards of managers, per TEA records. The comptroller's financial review does not include any districts that are controlled by the TEA.
Accountability ratings are based on student performance on the State Assessment of Academic Readiness, schools' ability to serve economically disadvantaged groups and graduation rates.
Prosper ISD received an A rating in the state's accountability system for the 2025-26 school year, while El Paso ISD earned a B and Barbers Hill ISD received an A. Austin ISD is the only district that may be subject to state intervention this year, Community Impact reported.
Another perspective
State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, is running against Huffines in the Nov. 3 election and criticized the financial review as "political retribution" in an Oct. 5 statement.
"We won’t get an honest or helpful review of these school districts or a fair evaluation of how our schools are performing against private school vouchers before the coming legislative session," Eckhardt said. "This is nothing more than the [comptroller] bolstering TEA's favored model of cuts, consolidations, layoffs and takeovers."
State senators questioned the interim director of the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program about the program's rollout during an Oct. 7 hearing. While Texas law requires students using state dollars for private education to take a nationally norm-referenced exam, there is no rule that participating private schools be compared to public schools. The comptroller released a mandatory report on student demographics in early August and will be required to issue a more detailed "longitudinal" report at least five years into the program.
