Steve West, Chief Financial Officer of Georgetown ISD, represented TASBO in his role as Governmental Relations chair in testimony before the Senate Committee on Finance on February 9, 2015. The agenda for the Committee covered Article III of the proposed General Appropriations Bill, Senate Bill 2.
Steve stated that Texas public schools appreciate that Senate Bill 2 continues to fund enrollment growth.
Steve provided selected examples of how more costs in Texas public schools are being funded at the local level, including:
- Since 2009 spending levels have not kept up with inflation in public education. At same time, Texas public schools were challenged with more low-income students. The State level of low-income students was 60.1% in 2013-2014 versus 52.7% ten years prior.
- Debt-related state aid support has dropped over the decade on an annual basis from 31% in school year 2001-2002 to 11% in 2012-13.
- Teacher Retirement System employer payments equal to 1.5 percent of covered salaries will be fully borne by public school budgets in the future.
To provide examples of how these issues are impacting Georgetown ISD (GISD), Steve stated,
- 83 % of the GISD's budget is for salary and benefits.
- Since school year 2010-2011, there has only been an aggregate 4.25% percent pay raise in GISD for teachers and less for other staff. During this time span, the district only increased employee-paid insurance premiums by $6.00 per month. These and other issues pose challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers and other staff in GISD.
- Like many districts, GISD is challenged by inadequate Instructional Materials Allotment (IMA) funding levels for textbooks and technology-related expenditures. For school year 2014-2015, GISD received IMA funding of $825,000 and budgeted an additional $600,000.
In concluding his testimony Steve stated, “We try to focus on instructional needs of our students and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to meet those needs, if we do not have additional revenue to do so.”