Gov. Greg Abbott started the year celebrating “the largest budget surplus in the history of our state” and looking forward to “a legislative session that will transform the lives of Texans for generations.”
Public schools across the state, and advocates like me, hoped this meant we would see legislation passed to address issues plaguing our schools: the largest ever exit of Texas teachers, substantial increases in operating expenses (like diesel prices doubling for school buses and property insurance for school buildings rising rapidly) and a $2 billion special education funding shortfall that only grows larger.
Instead, legislators delivered new, unfunded requirements for school districts, including stationing armed guards at every campus, conducting comprehensive library book reviews and installing panic alarms in every classroom. Yet the baseline funding for districts has remained unchanged since 2019 — despite double-digit inflation rates for food, energy and fuel — and Texas continues to rank in the bottom 10 of per-pupil spending in the nation. School districts today have less buying power and struggle to maintain competitive salaries for their staff.
You may hear state leaders talk about investments they made into education this year. However, all they did was offset the $18 billion property tax plan that voters passed to offer temporary tax relief for businesses and homeowners. Without this offset, public school funding would have fallen. Increasing the state contribution kept that from happening, but keeping school funding flat is not an investment in education.
Texas public education relies on property taxes and as those taxes rose you may have thought schools reaped the benefits. Unfortunately, our system does not work that way. Property tax payments go toward the state coffers, but school districts only see increases in funding if legislators take action.
The state has billions of dollars it can invest in public education now, and, though Gov. Abbott claimed “Texas has never wielded more power or enjoyed such economic might,” he chose to hold school funding hostage for a school voucher bill, a policy that offers no real benefit to families and no accountability to taxpayers.
So what now?
2024 will be a turning point for Texas education. In Bexar County, we’ve already seen state inaction close or threaten to close schools in four of our districts, closures that will deeply impact those communities for generations.
We will see more educational programs vanish and more budget cuts unless we vote for officials who support public schools and vote out the ones who do not. Our public schools need you to pay attention, to fight back against false narratives and to push for more support for our schools. Fighting for education equality is in San Antonio’s DNA.
In March 2024, education is on the ballot. Those elected will make decisions about public education funding, teacher pay, accountability and other issues in the next legislative session. This is our opportunity to send a message to Austin about how our community supports public education. We can’t wait until the November general election. As we have seen in elections past, 3% of Texans who vote in the primaries control who governs the other 97%.
Despite state leaders holding funding hostage for private school subsidies, our schools continue to ensure Bexar County’s more than 300,000 children have safe classrooms to go to, meals to eat and supportive teachers and other school staff to guide them.
We need local leaders, parents, grandparents and neighbors to ask all elected officials what they are doing to support our public schools because every level of government has that responsibility. We need upcoming primary campaigns to share what they have done and what they will do for public schools. And we need eligible voters to cast their votes with public education in mind.
Our students — who will be your future plumbers, dentists, mechanics, doctors, architects, pharmacists and more — are counting on your support, your vote and your voice.
