A budget is a moral document.

As we look back on the last month of legislative preparations and stare down the remaining thirty days of this heated mid-term election cycle, it’s worthy to pause briefly and take note of how information brought to light in often ignored budget hearings may shape the next several years of public education. As Texans in trying economic times are making tough decisions about where the economy demands they spend their dollars, it’s fair to wonder why the state isn’t making the same tough decisions. 

Every agency is required to submit a legislative appropriations request (LAR) for the next biennium. This is a detailed document that articulates the fiscal requirements to fulfill their statutory obligations. Earlier this summer (yes, it is still summer in Texas), Governor Greg Abbott called for all agencies to trim 3% from their operating budgets as a starting point. However, this did not stop the Texas Education Agency (TEA) or the Texas Comptroller from asking for billions more under the banner of “exceptional items.” Where those dollars would go don’t exactly sync with the wants and needs of Texas public school families. 

The Texas Comptroller, asked for an additional $2.3 billion for the existing voucher program, which no one but the governor’s donors asked for and is still in its first year with no proven efficacy. However, even that price tag belies hidden costs. The Houston Chronicle reported last month that the voucher program could quickly swell to $4.4 billion in spending if the Legislature grants the request for an additional $2.1 billion for those on a waitlist; the waitlist consisting mostly of students who have never attended a public school. Meanwhile, another Chronicle article cited research that shows $227 million leaving public school budgets as a result of students taking a voucher. Despite the promises of voucher proponents in the 89^th session, there is a material cost to our public school system that has yet to be calculated even as its impacts are felt in budget deficits across the state. 

This Tuesday, Commissioner of Education Mike Morath also presented his LAR in a joint budget hearing. The request includes an additional $1.9 billion for the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) bringing the spend on this so-called merit-based system to $3.8 billion, or about the same amount as was spent on the entire Teacher Retention Allotment (TRA) in House Bill 2. Currently, only 17% of teachers carry a designation. Morath estimates that by end of fiscal year 2028, 1100 districts will have adopted TIA and 130,000 teachers (double the current number) will have a designation. Texas AFT has been a vocal critic of TIA since its beginning in 2019. All Texas teachers deserve to be compensated at a level equal to the national average (~$75,000) before we entertain anything resembling merit pay.  

The commissioner is also seeking $238 million in Bluebonnet Implementation Supports and $118 million and 10 employees for “Curricular Resources for New TEKS” which we assume can overlap with the development of Bluebonnet for the new social studies TEKS. After the unflattering audit report last month, Morath stated explicitly at the hearing that his 3% cut would come in the form of full-time equivalents (FTEs) from his administrative budget and not school funding (which is protected). Still, with this week’s news that cumulative costs of the Bluebonnet program are somewhere north of $1 billion (owing to development, training, printing, incentives to use, and hopefully correction of factual errors), the posting of an Executive Director of Open Education Resources position with a six-figure salary at TEA is not the best look. 

The Teacher Retirement System (TRS) has had an incredibly good investment year—nearly double the estimated returns—and yet the ability to provide a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) this session remains a question. In order to sustain this defined benefit, and provide some relief to retirees, the fund will need an investment of $2-2.5 billion to bolster current and future retired education employees.  

Texas is a big state with a big budget; we are the second largest economy in the country and the eighth largest in the world, and our “rainy day” fund is full to overflowing. If the budget is a statement of our Texas values, then what do the current proposals have to say about state leadership and how they value public education and the people who support it? Time and an election cycle will tell. 

This seems like a good time to remind Hotline readers that the deadline to register to vote is Monday, October 5. Click here to check your registration!