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Plano ISD Joins Statewide Effort Urging Lawmakers to Address Inflation Impacts on School Funding

May 2, 2023

On May 1, Plano ISD joined forces with other school districts across the state to urge parents and supporters to contact state lawmakers about school funding. With only one month left in the legislative session, now is the time for our voices to be heard before the session ends on May 29.

Speaking at a joint press conference, School Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey stated, “For Plano ISD, this is an S.O.S moment—SUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS. Despite being one of the largest and wealthiest states in the country, Texas consistently ranks near the bottom in per-pupil spending on education. School districts need additional funding to be made whole from the impact of inflation over the last four years and going forward.”  

plano isd board vice president nancy humphrey speaking at podium

Also representing Plano and the business community in this effort was City of Plano Economic Development Director Doug McDonald whose mom was a teacher for 25 years before retiring. He stated, “The number one asset that recruits global companies to the state of Texas is our schools. The number one challenge facing our companies is workforce. It’s not a simple fix. We have to continue building a pipeline of talent and that starts with our schools. Our future workforce is in our schools today.”  

plano economic development director doug mcdonald speaking at podium

In addition to the event in Dallas, similar events occurred in Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso, Midland-Odessa and Tyler.

It is important to note that school districts do not receive more funding when property values increase. We are allotted a certain amount of money per student regardless of our property values, and the amount allotted per student has not changed since 2019. Since then, we have all felt the impact of inflation on our household budgets, and school districts are no different.

Additionally, in Plano ISD, recapture payments to the state have increased by more than 50% since 2019. This means that more of our local tax dollars are being sent to the state, leaving less money to support our schools.

inflation graphic

We are asking our legislators in Austin to provide school districts with additional funding to at least make up for inflation since 2019. To just keep up with inflation, our basic allotment must increase by nearly $1,000 across the board.

S.O.S.: Support Our schools, www.pisd.edu/supportourschools

We encourage you to take action and urge legislators to support our schools by visiting www.pisd.edu/SupportOurSchools. This link will remain active through the end of the legislative session on May 29.

Visit Plano ISD’s legislative priorities page for more information.