$5 billion more needed for Texas schools
Texas schools will need an infusion of almost $5 billion in the next state budget to keep the state out of court, school finance experts say. Senators from the education and finance committees were told that the school finance deal that resolved a legal challenge in 2006 has created constitutional problems of its own. Under the 2006 deal, some school districts get much less money per student, through a combination of state funds and local property taxes, than others do. That kind of disparity raises the constitutional question of whether all Texas school districts have equal access to the money needed to educate their students.