Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde criticized Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders over the current special legislative session in an open letter to district stakeholders earlier this week.
The letter was published on Dallas ISD’s news blog.
“The Texas legislature has begun a special session to once again try to divert public school funds to pay for private school subsidies. … The one thing the Governor isn’t allowing the legislature to consider is the one thing we need: a funding increase for public schools,” wrote Elizalde.
Dallas ISD’s budget for the 2023-2024 school year is roughly $2.5 billion.
“State funding for public schools hasn’t increased since 2019. Since then, inflation has gone up 19%, which has forced Dallas ISD and all other DFW-area school districts to dip into savings to pass deficit budgets. Without help from our state legislature, Texas public schools are not fiscally sustainable,” claimed Elizalde.
Despite student enrollment dipping down in recent years, the district has been adopting bigger budgets, spending more taxpayer money on fewer students.
“Traditional K-12 schools are hemorrhaging enrollment due to growing concerns over content, quality, and the politicization of the classroom. This steep decline is evidence that parents are ready for something different, something better,” claimed James Quintero of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in a previous interview with The Dallas Express.
Still, Elizalde suggested Gov. Greg Abbott and other school choice proponents were trying to use political pressure to get legislation passed despite the fact that recent polling indicates widespread support for such reform.
“What they’re not counting on is you. They’ve scheduled this special session during the school year in hopes that we’ll be too busy teaching children to speak up for them,” she wrote, directing teachers and parents to reach out to their state representatives.
According to Dallas ISD’s latest Texas Education Agency accountability report, only 41% of students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams, and almost 20% of its graduating Class of 2022 did not earn a diploma in four years despite the hard work of the district’s educators.