Some Texas public schools facing budget concerns without legislative funding increases

BURNET, Texas (Nexstar) — With a $33 billion dollar budget surplus hanging overhead, the regular legislative session started with promises to increase teacher pay and school funding but ended with none, now leading some public schools with budget concerns as they head into the next school year without an increase to the basic allotment.

In a district-wide email sent Tuesday morning to families, Burnet CISD said it is facing a $1.3 million dollar deficit for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. This news was shared in a district-wide letter written by Burnet CISD Superintendent Keith McBurnett.

"The Board of Trustees and Administration are working collaboratively to address the budget deficit," he wrote. "Difficult choice[s] are going to have to be made, when they shouldn’t have to be made."

McBurnett attributed the budget deficit to what he described as the Legislature's "inaction on school funding" and the expiration of the "formula transition grants." Those grants were part of the 2019 school finance overhaul law which McBurnett said were designed to ensure districts that might not see enrollment growth would still get at least a 3% increase in per-student funding. He said the district projects a $625,000 loss from those grants not being extended.

"The Governor should call for a Special Session to address the school funding issue immediately," McBurnett's letter read. "In my opinion, the Legislature is not fulfilling its Constitutional duty."

Experts like Mary Lynn Pruneda from Texas 2036 note the complexity of school finance, but said districts like Burnet CISD could raise their tax rates to help offset a deficit in funds.

"We do recommend that the legislature continue to put more money into public education, like increasing the basic allotment," she said. "It did get tangled up and some other matters, but we're hopeful that they will come back and continue to explore just continuing to increase the investment in our public schools, particularly in paying our teachers more."

This session, a House bill would have allocated additional funds to schools by increasing the per student allotment and increasing minimum teach salaries, but it failed to pass during the final days of the session after the Senate amended it to create the education savings account programs — which was Gov. Greg Abbott's "school voucher" proposal to let families use public dollars to help pay for the cost of private tuition.

Mark Wiggins, a senior lobbyist with the Association of Texas Professional Educators, said any budget shortfalls will contribute to the ongoing teacher staffing crisis experienced across the state. Wiggins placed blame on top Republicans' push for school voucher programs.

"Our students need access to great teachers and if school districts can't afford to hire and pay great teachers, then it's our students who are missing out," he said. "The legislature had 140 days to address school funding and to increase teacher pay or to address the staffing crisis and decided not to."

Advocates hope funding deficiencies might be addressed in a likely special session related to education, but Wiggins said he is not banking on that as long as school vouchers are on the table.

"There's absolutely zero reason to tie vouchers and teacher pay and school funding together," he said. "And right now the Senate, the lieutenant governor and the governor have made it clear that no substantial changes to school funding will happen without a voucher attached and vouchers, of course, would have the long term effect of dramatically reducing school funding."

Pruneda also noted that it is late in the year for schools to explore alternative sources of funding, creating further urgency in finding viable solutions for budgetary decision-making. McBurnett noted an Aug. 31 deadline for the district to approve its budget for next year.

The Burnet superintendent has called on Abbott to immediately convene a special session to address the gaps in school funding. Nexstar reached out to Burnet CISD for further comment regarding the letter sent to the district, but no one was available to discuss the matter at this time.