On February 28th the House Committee on Public Education heard invited testimony regarding school finance. Multiple witnesses testified they would like to see full-day prekindergarten (pre-K) funding. $1.6 billion currently comes from the Foundation School Program (FSP) to cover ½ day pre-K and it is estimated the amount will be close to double that amount if the program were extended to full-day. Some witnesses also supported moving funding from supplemental pre-K to High Quality pre-K.
During a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing this week, agency requests regarding pre-K were reviewed. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) requested an increase in funding for the High-Quality Pre-K Initiative Funding resulting in the full funding of $236 million for the biennium. Specifically, the language stated:
The TEA has also requested a rider (56) to take a portion of the supplemental funding for pre-K ($146 million is appropriated to supplemental pre-K in HB 1 as introduced) which would be up to $5 million annually to provide grants for initiatives that improve kindergarten readiness including support for High-Quality Prekindergarten Program technical assistance, grant programs, and for statewide data systems. It was clarified during testimony that this funding would be more for TEA indicatives rather than a general distribution across campuses.
The House Appropriation subcommittees will continue meeting throughout the next few days to make final decisions on their Articles before presenting recommendations to the full commitee on House Appropriations.
