Dallas school board members want the Legislature to boost funding for public schools to help the district pay for teacher raises and safety costs.
DISD trustees voted unanimously Thursday night to approve their requests for Austin lawmakers, which also included a demand that legislators hold any school that receives taxpayer funding to certain accountability standards – a sticking point that will likely emerge in the contentious fight over education savings accounts.
It remains a priority of Republican state leaders to create a voucherlike program that would allow families to use public dollars to pay for private school tuition. Gov. Greg Abbott failed to secure enough votes last session, but with changes coming after the November election, he may be able to wrestle a win alongside more supportive state lawmakers
Abbott is adamant that parents need a school choice plan that gives them more power to select the best campus for their children.
Many public school advocates, meanwhile, worry that such a program will drain money from the districts that educate the vast majority of Texas students.
“Many of us are still opposed to vouchers,” DISD trustee Dan Micciche said. “Many of us see that vouchers, you know, are becoming a more likely possibility than they had been in the past.”
So Micciche added to the district’s list of priorities a demand that any school that receives public funds should be held accountable for student outcomes, fiscal performance and open records law.
Public schools are graded on how well their students perform on standardized tests – with consequences for repeated failures. Private schools, meanwhile, are not rated by the state’s A through F accountability system.
The priorities voted on by trustees Thursday night mostly focused on money needed by public schools.
The Legislature hasn’t increased the base per-student amount it gives districts since 2019, despite new mandates for spending and huge inflation. Attempts to raise the allocation last year were ensnared in the fight over education savings accounts.
In response, districts across the state have cut staff positions, closed campuses and dipped into their reserves.
“To maintain the vitally important investment of preparing Texas’ workforce, future school funding allotments should be tied to the rate of inflation,” DISD’s legislative priority document reads.
In addition to a boost for the basic allotment, DISD leaders want the state to provide more money for pre-K, teacher salaries and safety measures.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
