The Select Committee met on March 23rd and heard invited testimony on school finance and school efficiency. The committee is charged with conducting a comprehensive review of funding formulas under the public school finance system and making recommendations to the Legislature on possible improvements.
Those testifying on the school finance panel were: David Anderson, General Counsel for the Texas Education Agency (TEA), Lisa Dawn-Fisher, Deputy Associate Commissioner For School Finance for the TEA, and John McGeady, Manager of the Legislative Budget Board Public Education Team. Anderson and Dawn-Fisher offered an overview of school finance including the litigation history of school finance. The school funding system comprised of multiple tiers had some committee members inquiring if an entirely new formula could be put in place. Committee member Larry Kellner, former CEO of Continental Airlines, asked: “Has there been any talk in the past to throw the whole system out and start all over?”
Sen. Florence Shapiro asked committee members to think outside the box and think of new creative ways to fund public education. After the finance discussion, panels then spoke on school districts growing budget concerns. Districts are experiencing increasing enrollment in tandem with a rise in various education costs.
“Here’s what I think is clear,” said committee member Sen. Dan Patrick, “We cannot continue long term to depend on property taxes to fund public education. We have to come up with a different source of money, and we have to come up with a better system for distributing that money.”
The Select Committee currently plans to hold additional hearings on April 22nd and May 19th.