March 19, 2018

ATPE lobbyist testified at March 19 meeting and provided comment on importance of state funding for public ed, recent trends

The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE), the leading voice for Texas educators, had a presence at the March 19, 2018 Texas Commission on Public School Finance meeting. ATPE Lobbyist Monty Exter joined several public education advocates and Texas school leaders in providing testimony to the 13-member commission about the importance of state funding for public education.

“Money well spent matters in education,” said Exter after his testimony. “This is factually true, based on the majority of experts who have looked into this issue, and it’s what the public believes by a margin of nine-to-one.”

According to Exter, Texas has trended away from a 50/50 state and local split on education funding for more than a decade. At present, local property taxes pay more than half of education funding while less than 40 percent comes from the state.

“Trending away from an even split between state and local funding sources to education funding has done a disservice to both students and property tax payers who have shouldered the burden of making up the difference,” Exter said. “Texas should consider getting back to a 50/50 split in education funding and increase funding overall, both concepts that have been shown to be supported strongly by the public.”

Exter added that there are multiple, realistic funding pathways to accomplish the goals of 50/50 state/local funding, significantly reducing property taxes, and increasing education funding. Over the course of his testimony, Exter highlighted a few of these pathways and encouraged the commission to consider them.

Exter’s testimony came after the Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium (TEGAC), a group of education, public policy, and business leaders from across Texas, released findings from a statewide poll of Texas voters’ views on public school funding earlier today. The poll found that the majority of Texans favor increasing funding for public education in their state.

The Texas Commission on Public School Finance was established by the 85th Texas Legislature to make recommendations for improvements to the current public school finance system, or to develop new methods of funding Texas public schools.

The commission is tasked with preparing and delivering a report detailing their findings and recommendations to the Texas governor and legislature no later than Dec. 31, 2018.

Visit www.teachthevote.org, a project of ATPE, for in-depth coverage of the Texas Commission on Public School Finance meetings throughout the year.

View the Texas Education Agency’s page for the Texas Commission on Public School Finance for more information and for meeting schedules.

>> Exter is available to discuss the March 19 commission meeting and other issues of school funding in Texas. To coordinate an interview, contact Jesus Chavez, ATPE media relations specialist, at 956-335-5724 or jchavez@atpe.org.

The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)
The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) has been a strong voice for Texas educators since 1980. It is the leading educators’ association in Texas with more than 100,000 members statewide. With its strong collaborative philosophy, ATPE speaks for classroom teachers, administrators, future, retired and para-educators and works to create better opportunities for 5 million public schoolchildren. ATPE is the ally and the voice of Texas public education. Learn more about ATPE at atpe.org.