State

Texas has raised the blanket homestead exemption from $15,000 a decade ago to $140,000 today, and the state is supposed to reimburse school districts for the revenue that removes. Districts told Texas Public Radio those hold harmless payments do not always cover the gap.

The Texas comptroller’s office has selected Austin, El Paso, Prosper and Barbers Hill ISDs for a spending review that Gov. Greg Abbott requested in August. Humble ISD, New Caney ISD and Sheldon ISD are not on the list.

The comptroller’s office asked lawmakers to double funding for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program to $2 billion before the 2027 session, at a Senate Education Committee hearing on October 7. Two groups opposing the program estimate public schools could lose up to $294 million.

The Texas Senate Education Committee questioned the benefits of four-day school weeks at an October 6 hearing, citing a Texas Education Agency study that found four-day students scored at least five percentage points lower on STAAR math and reading and averaged 85 fewer classroom hours a year.

The Texas Education Agency released data September 30 showing districts using its state-developed Bluebonnet Learning materials improved slightly more on STAAR than districts that did not, by 0.6 percentage points in math and 0.2 in reading.

The expanded Texas exemption for homeowners aged 65 and older has taken full effect, stacking a $60,000 senior exemption on the $140,000 standard school district homestead exemption for a combined $200,000. Roughly 60 percent of Texas homeowners over 65 now owe no school district property taxes.

The Texas Education Agency requested $97.3 billion for the 2028-29 biennium at a September 29 budget hearing, up from about $91 billion. Public education was exempted from the 3 percent cut other agencies were told to make.

Gov. Greg Abbott said on September 28 that a storm system would bring heavy rain and possible flash flooding from El Paso to the Panhandle and along the entire I-35 corridor. The Houston region is not among the areas named.