FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 7, 2015 Contact: Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, 512-463-0684

AYCOCK UNVEILS SCHOOL FINANCE REFORMS

AUSTIN School districts that educate 94 percent of Texas students would see an increase in per-pupil funding under a school finance proposal unveiled Tuesday. During a meeting of the Texas House Committee on Public Education, Chairman Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen) spelled out details of House Bill 1759. The legislation would reform and modernize the states system of paying for public education. These reforms, combined with the $3 billion in additional per-student funding called for in Aycocks plan, would increase funding for the overwhelming majority of Texas school districts. In fact, 94 percent of Texas students are enrolled in districts that would see a per-pupil funding increase. The bill requires that no school district see a decrease in per-pupil funding over the next two years. This bill gives schools more resources and delivers them in a smarter and more effective way, Aycock said. The district-by-district numbers in this plan show that we have a major opportunity to improve public education in Texas. HB 1759 removes antiquated, decades-old district adjustments in the funding system. It also removes a number of provisions that were once used to protect districts from short-term funding losses but have long outlived their usefulness. Aycocks proposal puts 98 percent of Texas students into a formula driven equalized system. Under current law, only 87 percent of students would be in such a system in the 2016 fiscal year and it drops to 82 percent in FY 2017. The plan also reduces the number of districts and the amount of money subject to recapture, which is the process by which some districts are required to send some of their local tax revenue to the state. For example, it saves the Houston school district from entering recapture in 2016 and significantly reduces the amount of money that the district would have to send to the state in 2017. Any change in these formulas will have different implications for different districts, Aycock said. But on the whole, this plan increases equity, it keeps more local dollars in local communities and it provides schools more resources to educate kids. Last week, the House voted overwhelmingly for a two-year state budget that increased education funding by $2.2 billion on top of what is needed to pay for growth in student enrollment. In addition, the House resoundingly approved an amendment that would allow an additional $800 million to flow to public education if Aycocks legislation is approved. Aycock said, We had to ask the fundamental question: Do we want to do whats right for the state of Texas and the children of Texas, or do we want to sit around and try to play lawyer and outguess the courts? The Committee on Public Education plans to hear public testimony on HB 1759 next week.

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