Nov 18, 2022
COVID pandemic has not increased state-tax spending on Texas' public schools
School finance formulas allocated $23.7 billion in state aid in 2022 to help pay for educating 5.4 million students in more than 1,000 local school districts and charter schools. That's a 3.2 percent drop from 2021, which in turn was a mere 0.1 percent higher than 2020, after major legislative changes to school funding starting in Fall 2019. Nonformula grants to schools did increase in 2022, thanks to federal COVID relief for public education.
Schools get much of their state aid early in the school year, because local property taxes -- the single largest revenue source supporting Texas schools -- aren't due until January 31.
