Today, lawmakers in the Texas House gave preliminary approval to a sweeping school finance bill. As written, House Bill 2 would increase the basic per-student allotment by nearly $400 and also increase teacher pay. The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey says the bill would also fund full day pre-k.
Back when HB 2 was in committee, San Antonio Democrat Rep. Diego Bernal said he’d find a way to fund full day pre-k for school districts. That’s something Texas has been talking about for years. Bernal presented an amendment to do this on the House floor, one he said won’t raise the bill’s overall cost.
“So what we're doing is if this folder is the comp ed bucket, what we are drawing inside of it is a smaller bucket that will fill up and then districts can draw down to pay for full day pre-k, because right now what the state does is only pay for a half day.”
The amendment passed 128-18. The bill now needs one more vote before it’s sent to the Texas Senate. I’m Blaise Gainey in Austin.
