How Public Schools in Texas are funded.

Raise Your Hand Texas has made a short video explaining how funding works in Texas.

How Public Schools in Texas are Funded (3 min)

Video created by Raise Your Hand Texas explaining how public school funding works in Texas.

the public education system in Texas is huge and critical to the future of our state smart planning and adequate funding are essential to making the system work for each and every Texan where does the money for public education come from let's break it down first think of funding schools like filling up a glass of water the water in the glass represents the amount of money the Texas legislature allocates to educate each student the water is sourced from 2 primary pitchers the first is School District revenue generated by local property taxes the second estate funds which are generated by things like sales taxes business taxes and a portion of Lottery proceeds the water glass has the ability to shrink or grow but many people are surprised to learn that the size of a Texas school district's water glass or how much money is available for and spent on day-to-day School operations is decided almost entirely by the state legislature not school boards are superintendents funding formulas designed by the legislature provides school districts with general operating funds most of which cover salaries for teachers and staff other parts of the funding formula are designated for specific priorities like career and technical programs early childhood education and more while the state legislature decides how big the water glasses how much money the state actually contributes is contingent on the amount of local property taxes generated by School District in our complex school funding system when local property values go up and tax collections increase Local Schools do not receive more funding instead the states simply pores less water into the glass even though more State funds were originally budgeted and intended for public education but what happens if School District revenue generated by local property taxes is able to fill well the whole glass more water is poured than the glass size can hold the state collects those overflowing funds in a separate water pitcher that holds general revenues for the state so when a school district's property tax revenue go up those dollars are not always reinvested back into our schools instead the state uses its Newfound billions to pay for other items in the state budget or simply holds on to the extra revenue that doesn't seem right money intended for Texas Public Schools should stay in Texas Public Schools