Students sit in the hall before heading to their first class at Yes Prep West Campus in Houston. A major school funding bill died Saturday along with teacher raises and a voucher-like program when lawmakers couldn't reach agreement before a key legislative deadline., The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
But lawmakers could not reach a deal before 11:59 p.m. Saturday, the deadline to issue reports on bills they’ve negotiated. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep., R-Canadian, announced Saturday afternoon that lawmakers would not reach a deal because the Senate would not budge on vouchers. The Senate tried to avoid a potential special session by modifying HB 100. The House’s original version of the bill intended to allocate $4.5 billion in new funding for schools. The Senate turned it intothat incorporates several provisions of other proposals that didn’t make it through the legislative process, including education savings accounts that would’ve given parents who opt out of the public school system up to $8,000 in taxpayer money per student each year.
That version of the bill never got a vote in the House’s Public Education Committee. Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, chair of the committee, told The Texas Tribune this month that, R-Conroe, who authored SB 8, accused the House of not having any intention of negotiating with him. Brian Woods, superintendent of the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, said not getting a basic allotment increase or the other funding that HB 100 would've provided means that school districts will have to operate under budget deficits — and that they'll be dipping into their savings to survive.