Austin Parents Rally for Increased School Funding Amid Budget Surplus
Austin, Texas – As the state of Texas faces a massive $30 billion budget surplus, many parents and education advocates are scratching their heads in disbelief. They wonder why, despite this overwhelming financial cushion, lawmakers have chosen not to allocate additional funding to the state’s struggling schools during the 2023 legislative session. One of the parents voicing her frustration is Daphne Hoffacker, who leads advocacy for the Austin Council of PTAs.
“I feel like we’re working so hard here in Texas,” Hoffacker says, highlighting the disparities between Texas schools and those in other states. “If your kid is going to school in Massachusetts, they’re getting twice the resources in every classroom, at every age, at every school. They have more teachers, smaller class sizes, and more course offerings.”
This January, Hoffacker plans to join school district administrators and public education advocates from across Texas to once again rally for more funding. Her mission is crystal clear: ensure that state leaders understand the critical nature of educational financing. “We need to increase the basic allotment, the dollars the state provides per student,” she explains. This basic allotment, currently at $6,160 per student, has not seen an increase since 2019, despite a staggering 22% inflation rise since then. In real terms, that means a dollar today buys what 80 cents did five years ago.
Struggles in Urban Districts
The situation is particularly dire for schools located in major urban areas such as Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. For example, Austin ISD was faced with the need to cut $30 million last year, yet they still confront a staggering $92 million deficit. Trustee Lynn Boswell expresses concern over the cuts, noting that they have had minimal effect on teachers and classrooms so far. However, she questions for how long this can go on without additional funding. “It’s a massive problem,” Boswell states. “We’ve seen school districts increase class sizes, lay off teachers, and even cut transportation routes. This creates chaos for families who rely on these services.”
The borrowing and budget-trimming are resulting in what many worry will undermine the quality of education across Texas. In fact, various projections indicate that to match the national average for public education spending, Texas would need to increase the basic allotment by about $1,000. Moreover, to account for inflation, schools require at least an additional $1,300 per student.
Advocating for Change
This upcoming legislative session, public school advocates will be making a strong case for reforms in education funding. They are pushing for a change in Texas’ education funding formula so that the basic allotment rises automatically with inflation. Furthermore, advocates like Hoffacker urge for the state to allocate more financial support for what they call unfunded mandates. These include pressing areas such as special education, transportation, and security—costing school districts over $4 billion annually.
Hoffacker is also calling attention to an essential flaw in the current funding structure—an attendance-based model that penalizes schools with higher absentee rates due to the socioeconomic conditions many of their students face. “It’s one of the social and cultural failures in our state,” she insists, explaining that poorer neighborhoods struggle with child attendance due to responsibilities like caring for siblings or contributing to family income.
Calls for Reform
Advocates like Boswell and Hoffacker also want to see significant reforms in the recapture process—a financial mechanism that reallocates property tax revenue from wealthier districts to poorer ones. They argue that increased property values should also mean increased funding for schools, but this hasn’t been the case. “We’re all living through massive property value growth, and yet we haven’t seen a corresponding increase in school funding,” Boswell says, urging for better revenue stabilization from the state.
As Austin parents and education advocates prepare for January, the drive to secure more funding for schools remains at the forefront of their efforts. Their message is simple but powerful: better resources for Texas schools mean a brighter future for every child in the state.
