House and Senate lawmakers have struck a deal on an $8.5 billion funding package for Texas public schools that will preserve the upper chamber’s push for a modest $55 per-student increase to districts’ base funding, while giving schools more than $1 billion to pay for fixed costs like utilities and teacher pensions.
The deal, announced by legislative leaders Thursday, appears to strike a face-saving compromise for both chambers, which had been divided by the House’s bid to give schools a bigger increase in base per-student funding and the Senate’s desire to more narrowly prioritize teacher pay raises.