Education leaders in 60 cities in Texas, including Dallas, asked for more of the state’s $32 billion reserve to boost what they say are low school budgets. They said that Texas schools are $7 billion short of their needs. The seriousness of the request was shown by the fact that time was running out for the 88th legislature meeting in Austin. Lawmakers are working on the state budget for education, and the session will end on May 29.
At a press conference on Monday morning, Stephanie Elizalde, who is in charge of the second biggest school district in the state, Dallas Independent School District, was direct.
“We are here to declare an emergency,” said Elizalde, who was surrounded by teachers and school board and PTA members from Richardson, Plano, Mesquite, and other districts. “Mayday is mostly used by pilots and sailors to sound an alarm and ask for help right away,” Elizalde said. “Okay, I’ll make it official. Mayday, mayday, mayday. The public schools in Texas need help right away.”
She said that Texas schools are currently $7 billion short of money. She said that if a budget for education was passed with such a big hole, it would be hard to keep inflation flat.
Plano ISD board Nancy Humphrey added “SOS,” which stands for “Support Our Schools,” to the Mayday phrase. She said that even though the state is big and has a lot of money, the public school budget per student is always near the bottom. Lancaster Superintendent Katrise Perera thought the state’s funding for education was great until she went to Singapore with a group from the Department of Education.
Before she went to schools overseas, Lancaster Superintendent Katrise Perera said she was surprised by how much the state spent on education. She noticed that Singapore spends twice as much on each student as Texas does, which is $6,100. “That’s sad,” she said about how much her state spent on schooling. We have the latest news about Texas Senate Approves Public Funds For Private Schools, House Opposes
Perera said, “They are making an effort to put money into their kids.” “Texas costs $6,100. It’s too bad. There, each child has to pay $11,000. And the fact that their kids had such great access and chances, and that their staff was treated with such respect and honor, just blew my mind.
Some speakers liked the legislature’s current plans to raise teachers’ pay, but others said it wasn’t enough. When you add a high teacher turnover rate and a growing population, the need and prices increase even more. Doug McDonald, the city of Plano’s business director, also joined the call Monday: His mother was a teacher for 25 years before she quit.
McDonald said, “Our schools are the number one thing that makes global companies want to move to the state of Texas.” “Workforce is the biggest problem for our businesses. It’s not easy to solve. You may consider this Texas Districts Spend $5 Billion In Property Taxes To Fund Other Schools
“We need to keep building a pipeline of ability, and our schools are the place to start. Our schools are where our future workers are learning”.
McDonald said that cutting back on schools now won’t help the state’s economy grow and stay stable in the future. Many people are already trying to get a piece of the state’s budget and its extra money. They include people who pay property taxes and want help and private schools that want vouchers to be approved.
