According to the House-Senate Conference Committee working on Texas’ new budget, state funding for public education will increase by $125 million in 2012-2013.
At a time when the “informed” class in Austin decries all reductions to government spending as draconian, where zero-based budgeting is a foreign concept, and when funding levels are based on “expectations” rather than “needs”, public education in Texas will be funded with more dollars than it was two years ago.
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At the outset of the legislative session, the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) recommended funding public education with far less than the House and Senate have come up with here — and they did it without raising taxes and raiding the state’s savings account.
In tighter economic times and having to make austere budget decisions, the Texas Legislature prioritized available spending to effectively fund public education.
The Texas Legislature has done its part to protect the classroom; the rest is up to local school districts.
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Andrew Kerr is the Executive Director of Empower Texans / Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
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