Skip to content

Thursday, Mar. 13, 2025

Have Texas public schools received the same amount of funding per student since 2019?

Sofia Sierra, El Paso Matters
yes

The state Legislature in 2019 set the basic student allotment for public schools at $6,160 per student and has not since amended the amount, which is specified in Chapter 48 of the Texas Education Code.

State Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killen, during the 2025 Legislative session proposed House Bill 2, which would increase the state funding by $220, raising the allotment to $6,380 per student.

Buckley additionally proposed House Bill 3 – a voucher bill that would allow parents of private school students to use taxpayer money to pay for tuition. Another 75 House members have co-authored the bill, which Gov. Greg Abbott in a February 2025 news release said will give it enough votes to pass voucher legislation he failed to push through two years ago.

According to the Education Data Initiative, Texas ranks 42nd in K-12 funding in comparison to other states in the U.S.

See a full discussion of this at El Paso Matters

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

El Paso Matters is a member-supported nonpartisan media organization that uses journalism to expand civic capacity in our region. We inform and engage with people in El Paso, Ciudad Juárez and neighboring communities to create solutions-driven conversations about complex issues shaping our region.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.