For FY20–21, all funds financing for public education totals $67.5 billion, an increase of $7 billion over the FY18–19 funding level. Most of the funding for public education comes through the Foundation School Program system. The 86th Legislature increased FSP funding by $11.5 billion in General Revenue funding, with the intent to increase salaries for teachers and provide school district property tax relief.
Supplemental appropriation for public education include:
- $100.0 million for school safety enhancements
- $10.9 million to school districts that experienced mass shootings
- $636.0 million for costs attributable to Hurricane Harvey
Permanent School Fund
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The Texas public school system Fund (PSF) set up by the Fifth Legislature, Jan. 31, 1854.
The 158-year-old PSF is managed by the SBOE and is the second-largest educational endowment in the United States. It is invested in global markets and broadly diversified. Every year, a distribution is made from PSF to pay a portion of educational costs in each public school district. The amount distributed is subject to two constraints set in Article VII, Section 5 of the Texas Constitution:
- The SBOE may not approve a distribution rate or transfer to the Available School Fund (ASF) that exceeds 6 percent of the average market value of the fund, excluding real property.
- The total distributions over a 10-year period to the ASF may not exceed the total return on the PSF’s investment assets over the same period.
The fund was first established in 1854 with $2.0 million. The amount distributed to schools that year was $40,587. By 1900 the fund had grown to $9.1 million. Funds distributed to schools in 1900 totaled $3.0 million.
The PSF balance, as of Aug. 31, 2018, was $44.1 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion from the prior year. The PSF also provides a guarantee for bonds issued by local school districts, allowing districts to pay lower interest rates. As of Aug. 31, 2012, PSF assets guaranteed $77.7 billion in school 14 charter districts.
