Texas Border Business
Austin, TX – Today marked the debate on House Bill 3, otherwise known as school finance reform. The bill fundamentally transforms the way Texas invests in its students and makes school funding formulas more efficient and equitable. House Bill 3 sets forth the following provisions:
- Requires available state funds to be used before requesting locally generated revenue.
- Invests $9 billion in classrooms; $6.3 billion towards public education and $2.7 billion towards property tax reduction over the biennium.
- Allots for approximately $890 per pupil in additional funding.
- Creates an Early Education Allotment that allows districts to invest in Full-Day Pre-K.
- Permanently lowers school district property tax rates.
- Creates a Bilingual Allotment.
- Closes the “equity gap” by approximately $200 in the first year of the biennium.
- Increases the Basic Allotment from $5,140 to $6,030, which increases the amount of money guaranteed for each student.
Rep. Muñoz also filed amendments to promote overall transparency in our school districts. One amendment promotes the adoption of cost-saving measures to identify ways to improve the
“I am confident that HB 3 greatly improves the current school finance system and delivers in its promises to our public schools. The measure gives school districts the discretion to appropriate resources where they see fit and prioritizes students with the highest needs,” said Rep. Muñoz.
Moving forward, HB 3 greatly improves the current school finance system to accelerate student achievement and prioritize teacher quality.
