Print 🖨

The Legislative Budget Board met on September 12, 2018 to hear from the Texas Education Agency concerning the agency’s Legislative Appropriation Request for the 86th Session and key exceptional items.

This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics the committee took up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the hearing, but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

 

Agency Presentation

Mike Morath, Texas Education Agency

  • Briefly reviewed contents of handout given to LBB panel
  • The dip between FY18-19 is entirely due to philanthropic dollars, we do not budget for these
  • Priority 1, recruit, support, and retain teachers
  • Priority 2, build a foundation of reading and math
    • Math Innovation Zone project is in the pilot stage
    • This project has the potential for a major positive impact
    • Reading and math academies are being implemented
    • We hope to use the open source method to allow teachers to exchange ideas concerning ways to hone their teaching skills
  • Priority 3, Beyond Grad and Innovative Academies
    • These programs are proving effective in preparing students for college
  • Priority 4, improve low performing schools
    • We want to learn from and replicate high performing campuses
    • Student success initiative is a method for funding
    • Lone star government initiative is empowering boards, so they can focus on improvement
  • A-F accountability program was released just a few weeks ago
  • STAAR Report Card got a massive overhaul so that parents can better understand how their kids are performing in certain subjects
  • We have increased our FTE counts
  • 50% of the positions have already been filled
  • Rider 69 provides matching funds to districts to build fiber optics networks, this will put us above all states
  • Exceptional item 1
    • Around $50 million
    • Mental health supports, positive school culture, facility safety, emergency response coordination – the four pillars of this item
  • Exceptional item 2
    • Around $50 million
    • To support compensatory education in LEAs
    • LEAs are required to provide these services; this additional support helps cover the cost for students falling behind
  • We have requested UV authority in riders where there was none before
  • Special education riders concern monitoring authority, this is for the new FTEs
    • Budget planning also includes costs for furniture
  • Rider 40 permit fund school distribution rate is to align with SBOE requirements
  • Rider 46 removes a baseline 2010 reference that is outdated
  • Rider 58 recommends deletion for redundancy
  • Rider 67 updates the statute to align with admin transfer authority

 

Clint Carpenter, Wyndham ISD

Robert O’banyon, Wyndham ISD

  • Wyndham ISD is authorized to provide academic and vocational training for offenders within the TX Department of Criminal Justice
  • Our baseline remains unchanged
  • Exceptional item 1
    • Around $10 million
    • Includes pay raise for teachers and staff, 6% pay raise
    • Includes expansion of vocational programs for female offenders
    • Includes industry certifications for offenders
    • Includes year-round schooling opposed to the 200+ days we currently offer
    • Includes funding for apprenticeship programs

 

Questions from Joint Legislative/LBB Panel

  • Question – Is there anything in the LAR that concerns shorter sentence times for state jail felons?
    • Wyndham – The LAR is for state jails and institutional divisions
    • The expansion of female opportunities will disproportionately enhance the benefits for females in short term settings
    • Females incarcerated in short term jails have historically had fewer opportunities for education and training
    • A larger percentage of them have children, our program allows them to continue to care for their families
  • Question – Does the year-round school expansion serve an additional 25k students? Do you need to hire new people?
    • Wyndham – The funding recruits’ teachers to teach during their time off, this is not a part of their usual salary
  • Question – Can you explain the facility safety funds?
    • Morath – This is a matching grant program.
    • Replacing doors that don’t lock is an example of how the funds might be used
    • Tiering methodology needs to be created for that, either statutorily or we could do it
    • The $10 million is a placeholder
    • The facilities issue is significant statewide
  • Question – Does your foundation school funding include $3.5 million less GR?
    • Morath – Your numbers are correct because property values are growing in the state
  • Question – What percentage of state share do you estimate?
    • Morath – Mid-30s probably
    • It would go down
  • Question – All of that is driven by statute?
    • Morath – Yes
  • Question – Can you talk about enrollment?
    • Morath – It has gone down significantly
    • We project an 80k enrollment gain
  • Question – Would a criterion for MNO be that there is some type of INS effort?
    • Morath – We would just talk about a local share
    • I don’t think it would be wise to draw a distinction between INS and MNO
  • Question – Does the $50 million for special education service grants fund compensatory services?
    • Morath – This includes many assumptions
    • Basically, it is $5,000 per kid for 10k kids
    • The majority of students will not have compensatory needs
    • Others will have needs that go above the $5,000
  • Question – Is it possible that the $50 million will identify those not previously identified and the new number will be larger?
    • Morath – That is not handled in the exceptional item
    • As part of our corrective action response, we must conduct outreach to families
    • That will happen regardless of whether the exceptional item is funded
  • Question – Is that model based on an existing model?
    • Morath – This was largely the result of stakeholder conversations and our best estimates
  • Question – How does the GAA provide for a maintenance increase?
    • That is based upon total per-pupil spending for state and local
    • Tier 2 rates are the major benchmark
    • Projected property values also drive the data
  • Question – You mentioned an emergency handbook for superintendents, where is that?
    • It is in process
  • Question – What is the median for ISD state share entitlement?
    • We can get that to you

 

Public Testimony

John Grey, Texas State Teachers Association

  • Local property taxpayers will pay more in the next budget cycle if funding for public education is not increased
  • TEA assumes property taxes will assume a larger portion of cost in the next biennium
  • That assumption has led TEA to tell legislators they can cut school funding
  • Local property tax will fund most of the Foundation program, while the state only pays 38%

 

Ann Fickle, Texas Classroom Teachers Association

  • Excluded from the LAR is additional funding for active employee health insurance
  • This funding comes through the school finance formulas
  • Benefits have been cut sharply over the years and most teachers receive the lowest level of care
  • The state’s funding hasn’t changed since the plan was implemented in 2002
  • Question – Do you have suggestions for fixing that cost?
    • This could be phased in over time, if need be

 

Kristin McGuire, Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education

  • We are appreciative of the exceptional item request concerning special education
  • If that could be put in the supplemental appropriations bill it would bring the money to students faster
  • As I read it, in its current state, this would not be available for reimbursement until the end of the 2019 schoolyear
  • This needs to be available in the public-school system and not for private providers

 

Steve Aleman, Disability Rights Texas

  • We appreciate TEAs exceptional item devoted to students with disabilities
  • In our handout, we have highlighted major budget riders concerning disabilities
  • We want to ensure that there is a top-bottom review of these riders

 

Adrian Gaspar, Disability Rights Texas

  • We support TEAs exceptional item 1
  • Mental health programs that have not undergone rigorous peer review need
  • This investment needs to be made prior to the investment in hardening schools

 

Shannon Hoffman, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health

  • Texas high schoolers are attempting suicide at rates 2x the national average
  • The Safe and Healthy School Initiative needs to be funded

 

Kyle Piccola, The Arc of Texas

  • The school safety exceptional item is a fantastic initiative
  • Students with disabilities are unfortunately disciplined at a much higher rate than those without
  • We want to ensure our school safety plans do not inadvertently affect students with disabilities than they should

 

Josette Saxton, Texans Care for Children

  • I appreciate the Commissioner saying the figures are just placeholders
  • It should start the conversation concerning how much is needed to keep our kids safe and healthy
  • TEA should provide school districts with effective practices when they use their funds

 

Heather Sheffield, Self

  • I am extremely frustrated that TEA is asking for less money for public education
  • I am the parent of two dyslexic children
  • The district that educates my children has the second lowest tax rate in Texas
  • Districts need more money to fund unfunded mandates from the state
  • We are a recapture district and would be happy to send money to other ISDs
  • The problem is that 66% of our tax dollars are not reaching our kids