Days before Texas budget debate, educators call for increase in public schools funding kut.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kut.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Texas ended up with a $30 billion budget surplus this year. How that extra money will be spent will be a big topic when the Texas Legislature meets in a couple of weeks. Top Republicans have already planned big tax rebates, but do have some education spending in mind.
Back in July of this year, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced that he had revised his original revenue estimate and increased it to close to $27 billion. That’s extra money that the state has due to a rebounding state economy on the heels of the COVID pandemic. Due to consumer activity, sustained oil and gas prices and reshoring initiatives, some pundits predict that the surplus could increase substantially by the time the Texas Legislature has to spend it.
Austin ISD will soon receive hundreds of millions in
COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government. The
Texas Education Agency announced Tuesday, April 28, that it would finally be distributing
$11.2 billion in federal funding for
K-12 education relief to Texas schools, including a
$155.6 million boost for AISD. This is part of the
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (
ESSER) III portion of the latest of three federal coronavirus relief acts. About two-thirds of the funding, including $104 million for AISD, will be granted to districts soon. The final third, including around $52 million intended for Austin, must be held until the
Department of Education approves Texas plan for its use, but should be available later this spring, according to a state press release.
Outside AISD s Liberal Arts and Science Academy in October 2020 (Photo by Jana Birchum)
After purchasing millions of dollars worth of laptops, iPads, cleaning equipment, and other supplies to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic on its own dime,
Austin ISD will soon receive hundreds of millions in
COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government.
The
$11.2 billion in federal funding for
K-12 education relief to Texas schools, including a
$155.8 million boost for Austin ISD. This funding is a part of
ESSER III, the
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief portion of the latest of three federal coronavirus relief acts.
Approximately two-thirds of the ESSER III funding, including $104 million for AISD, will be granted to districts soon. The final third, including around $51 million of money intended for Austin, must be held until the