By Lori Rapp, Ed.D., Lewisville ISD Superintendent of Schools
When it comes to funding Texas public schools, one of the most commonly cited figures is the amount of money allocated “per student.” At first glance, this number seems straightforward—an easy way to understand how much funding our schools receive. However, this average is misleading and fails to reflect the reality of what school districts like Lewisville ISD actually receive to educate each child.
In LISD, payroll costs make up 85% percent of the operating budget, which include paying teachers, librarians, instructional aides, bus drivers, custodians, principals, administrators and all of the more than 6,000 employees of the district. Other expenditures include utilities, contracted services, student educational resources, classroom supplies and equipment, travel and legal and audit services. LISD also earns the highest rating on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST), a system created to ensure Texas public schools are held accountable for the quality of their financial management practices. One of the indicators for FIRST measures whether a school district’s administrative cost ratio is less than the threshold set by TEA, a threshold LISD has consistently met.
The foundation of school funding in Texas is the basic allotment—the guaranteed amount per student that the state provides to support a basic education. Right now, that amount is $6,160 per student and has remained unchanged since 2019.
A recent annual report provided by the TEA indicates that school districts receive an average of $10,800 per student. This figure, however, does not reflect what schools actually receive or can use for every child’s education. The state arrives at this number by averaging all sources of school funding, but not every student benefits from the specialized allotments. As you see from the amounts below, the higher amounts received in special education and CTE allotments inflate the overall average calculation.
Additional figures reported from the TEA reach as high as $15,000 per student, and include money spent on Texas Education Agency, the Teacher retirement system, and bond funds. These revenue sources can not be spent on daily operations of a school district.
Additionally, the basic allotment amount impacts recapture, which is the payment that the state of Texas collects from districts that are property wealthy. The lower the basic allotment, the higher the dollar amount a district such as LISD will send back to the state of Texas from property taxes in the form of a recapture payment.
Due to inflation, the value of the basic allotment has significantly declined. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, what was $6,160 in 2019 now has the purchasing power of just $4,953 today. That means districts are expected to do more with significantly less, while costs for everything from teacher salaries and utilities, to classroom materials continue to rise. Estimates indicate that the basic allotment would need to be raised by $1,340 to address the impact of inflationary costs.
I often get asked, “is there a required adjustment for inflation in the school funding formula”? The answer to that is simply no. Currently, there is no obligation in law that requires the state to consider inflation as part of school funding.
There are more than 5 million students in Texas public schools. Let’s address the dollar amount that impacts every child in Texas public schools–the basic allotment.
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