Legislative Updates

The basic allotment of $6,180 has not been increased since 2019 despite greater than 17% inflation over that time. Any increase should at least compensate for that disparity and should increase in subsequent years based on future inflation. 

School districts should not be forced to choose between funding teacher salaries and student programming. Provide funding to compensate teachers to a level consummate with the important role they have in our communities and to include future inflationary adjustments. 

Texas schools currently only receive funding for average daily attendance (ADA); however, districts must prepare for 100 percent of students showing up each day and staff classrooms accordingly. 

Keller ISD pays more than $52 million to meet state mandates that receive no funding or inadequate funding. For example, HB 3 (88th) mandated that armed officers be hired for every Texas school, but only provided $10 per student and $15,000 per campus – about $20,000 for an elementary school – in funding. 

The state of Texas collects approximately $3 billion in recaptured property taxes from school districts each year with the goal of wealth equalization throughout the state, yet neither the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts nor the Texas Education Agency delineate specifically how much of the funds collected for recapture are used for that purpose. 

STAAR costs taxpayers $90 million a year and provides a single data point for student achievement and progress based on a single test, the results of which are not provided until after the completion of the school year. By comparison, MAP testing provides multiple data points throughout the school year to more accurately track student progress and allow for more effective interventions. 

No two students are the same, and any testing model should consider students’ varying learning needs and technological capabilities. 

Task the TEA with creating an ongoing list of books prohibited in school libraries due to the requirements of Texas Education Code, Chapter 33, Subchapter B to fill the original target wherein vendors would rate and exclude sexually explicit books. To review new books and existing titles, it costs Keller ISD the equivalent of about $4.2 million* in employee time to comply with HB 900 (88th) requirements.  

*KISD averages 500 new books each quarter for a total of 2,000 every year. Considering an average pay rate of $340 per day and 15 minutes to review each book, the “cost” of reviewing new books would be about $22,500. KISD also has over 372,000 existing titles in circulation, so considering 15 minutes to review each of those books at a pay rate of $340 per day, it would cost $4.185 million to review existing books. This calculation only includes physical libraries and not classroom libraries. (Please note, these figures have been updated from previous incorrect numbers.)