Texas Comptroller reveals the four school districts it intends to audit.

At the Governor's request, the Texas Comptroller released its list of school districts it intends to audit to ensure “public funds are being used for their lawful, intended purposes.”

The Governor claims the goal of the audit is to reduce bloat and administrative inefficiencies. However, he seems able to turn a blind eye to other high administrative costs that are less politically expedient for him. Notably absent from his request is a similar review of charter schools. Despite spending a 56% higher share in the 2023-2024 fiscal year in operating expenditures on central administration costs compared to public school districts, as uncovered by our friends at Our Schools Our Democracy, Abbott has made no attempt to audit or rein in charter schools.

TEA is also no stranger to high administrative costs, with a recent audit showing management salary and wage costs rose nearly 64% from 2021 to 2025, while non-management salary and wage costs rose 31% in the same period. This also ignores the fact that accountability measures are already in place for public school districts, such as the Public Management Information System (PEIMS), required annual independent audits, and publicly elected boards of trustees.

Below are the four school districts being audited, broken down by enrollment, budget size, and the suspected reason the Comptroller is auditing them. Although the Comptroller has not released official reasons for selecting these school districts, they have all appeared in recent news for a variety of financial issues and concerns. That being said, the Governors political motivations might give more insight into the real reason behind these audits. Abbott has repeatedly stated he intends to set a 30% statewide limit on administrative spending in Texas school districts and has marked it as a top priority for the 90th legislative session, along with his plan to eliminate school property taxes. This audit may serve as a talking point to help push through his legislative priorities. 

Austin ISD  

Enrollment: 69,074 students  

Budget Size: $887M 

Plausible reason for being audited: Abbott has repeatedly raised concerns about a 14% enrollment decline combined with a 75% increase in administrative cost per student from 2015 to 2025. The district faces a $180M budget shortfall this fiscal year.

Barbers Hill ISD (Gulf coast area, east of Houston) 

Enrollment: 8,088 students 

Budget Size: $150M 

Plausible reason for being audited: A contentious hearing in the Texas House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight in August centered around the Barbers Hill Education Foundation. This foundation holds the largest education foundation holdings in the nation, and questions were raised about transparency and avoiding recapture.

El Paso ISD  

Enrollment: 46,244 students 

Budget Size: $530M  

Plausible reason for being audited: Abbott has raised concerns about a 20% decrease in enrollment combined with a 50% increase in administrative cost per student from 2015 to 2025.

Prosper ISD (Dallas metro area, far north) 

Enrollment: 33,583 students 

Budget Size: $430M  

Plausible reason for being audited: The school district projects a $40M budget shortfall for the next fiscal year. A lawsuit filed this March alleges that Prosper ISD trustees obstructed an investigation into contractor overcharges.

While we certainly support good stewardship of public dollars and accountability in school districts, the Governor has consistently failed to hold charter schools and private institutions receiving public dollars to the same standard. At first glance, this might seem like a genuine attempt to increase accountability, but it's clear the Governor may use any report produced by this audit to continue to attack public education and expand state control, while advancing his privatization goals.