State panel suggests school finance overhaul
Directing more money toward schools educating poor children, updating outdated funding formulas and curbing property tax growth are among ways the state should overhaul its beleaguered school finance system, according to draft recommendations made by a state commission on Tuesday.
The final report from the Texas Commission on Public School Finance is due to the Legislature by the end of the month. The Legislature, in lieu of pumping more money into Texas classrooms, created the commission last year to develop ways to fix the way the state funds public schools.
The commission has spent the last nine months learning about the state’s complex funding formula, how to redirect money to districts that need it the most. The group also has studied how to drop property taxes, the main source of local revenue for schools, a goal some say runs counter to bolstering school funding.
Although the commission has devised 29 recommendations so far, members on Tuesday were divided on whether to put a dollar figure on how much more money school districts need.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20181212/state-panel-suggests-school-finance-overhaul