State Rep. Brian Harrison went after popular Texas school funding myths this week, instead advocating for better allocation of resources and greater fiscal responsibility.
Harrison (R-Midlothian) first responded to an X user (formerly Twitter) who took issue with Harrison congratulating his father, Midlothian Independent School District Trustee Ed Harrison, for being the lone vote against increasing local maintenance and operations taxes.
M&O taxes are the primary way Texas collects property taxes, making up roughly 80 percent of the tax bill. The majority of those M&O taxes are directed to school districts like Midlothian ISD.
“If the state used some of their $22 billion surplus to increase per pupil funding, districts wouldn’t be forced to raise M&O taxes @brianeharrison,” the user wrote. “Per pupil funding has been the same since 2019. The burden to fund schools falls on local tax payers because of politics from Austin.”
Harrison called out the talking point, stating, “I’m so sick of this lie.”
Texas public schools have never had more money than they do right now. Per-pupil spending is UP 42% since 2011. Yet math score[s] are 20% LOWER than they were in 2011. $$ is NOT the problem,” he wrote.
Data from Texas Policy Research would indicate that Harrison is correct. According to the organization, per-pupil spending has increased every year since the 2014-2015 fiscal year, totaling around 45 percent.
The Texas Education Agency also reports that the state spends more than $12,000 per student once property taxes, federal funds, and other sources of funding are considered. That is contrary to the $6,160 per student number commonly cited as the reason why schools are “underfunded.”
Overall, total Texas school funding has increased significantly since 2014-2015. Last decade, Texas spent just over $60 billion on public schools. By 2022-2023, that number swelled to more than $92 billion.
Harrison continued criticizing those pushing for more blank check spending on education, noting that the real problem lies in how school districts allocate the funds.
“Myth: Schools need to raise your taxes so they can ‘pay teachers more.’ Fact: For decades the ISDs have chosen to prioritize administrators and buildings instead of teachers,” explained Harrison. “$$ is not the problem. More $$ is not the solution.”
School choice advocate Corey DeAngelis later followed up on the discussion in his own post, sharing the same graph as Harrison but with data ending in Fall 2022 rather than Fall 2019.
The government school system has become more of a jobs program for adults than an education initiative for kids. pic.twitter.com/YoxhjbMC6Z
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) August 22, 2024
While salary has increased at a greater rate (19.7 percent) for teachers than for administrative staff (15.5 percent) since 2014-2015, the National Center for Education Statistics data shared by DeAngelis found that the hiring of new administrative staff increased 95 percent from 2000 to 2022.
The total number of teachers hired has only increased by 10 percent over that same period, which is double the increase in the number of students attending Texas schools. Meanwhile, the hiring of principals and assistant principals grew by 39 percent.
Harrison’s attempt to correct the record on education funding comes several months after he urged House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) to conduct interim hearings on removing federal funds from Texas schools.
The call for interim hearings was in response to the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to rewrite Title IX, adding “gender identity” as a protected class in federal civil rights law on school discrimination.
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