Source: Texas Tribune
A chart on the newest edition of the Texas government publication called “Fiscal Size-Up: 2018-19 Biennium” tracks what local, state and federal taxpayers have been contributing to public education in Texas over the past decade. Spoiler: The load has steadily shifted to local property taxpayers. Texas is spending 6.3 percent less per student, in constant dollars (stated in 2010 dollars, adjusted for inflation and population), than it was spending in 2010. If you applied 2008’s shares of the public education load to today’s numbers, the system would need $6 billion less from local school districts, about $5.5 billion more from the state, and about $438 million from the federal government. Those are one-year numbers, and it’s a running problem — not a one-time fix. To keep the state and local shares at about 45 percent each, state lawmakers would have to find $9 billion for the next two-year budget.