FGSC Statement on House Bill 3

AUSTIN, TEXAS (Feb. 6, 2019)—

The following statement regarding House Bill 3 and the Texas House’s efforts to address school finance reform should be attributed to Dr. Guy Sconzo, Executive Director, Fast Growth School Coalition (FGSC):

“House Bill 3 shows the promise of comprehensive school finance reform that Texas’ fast growth school districts, our larger public school system and local taxpayers so desperately need.

“By quadrupling the allocation for operating, start up and equipping new schools to $100 million per year, the Texas Legislature would be taking a significant step forward in starting to address some of the facilities funding concerns of our state’s fastest growing school districts and other school districts.

“To achieve meaningful property tax relief, we’ve long said that the state must fix its school finance system. Texas’ fastest growing school districts know this all too well, as the state’s share of funding has dramatically declined over the years with many fast growth districts receiving little to no state funding for facilities, requiring local taxpayers to shoulder that burden.

“Fast Growth School Coalition looks forward to working with Speaker Dennis Bonnen, House Public Education Chairman Dan Huberty and the Texas House as House Bill 3 is debated.

“And, we look forward to working with Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Speaker Bonnen and the full Texas Legislature to find meaningful solutions to our school finance system that will lead to real property tax relief.”

# # #

About Fast Growth School Coalition

For two decades, the Fast Growth School Coalition (FGSC, fastgrowthtexas.org) has educated and advocated for investment in the state’s fastest growing school districts to deliver the high-quality education Texas students and taxpayers deserve. Texas public schools enroll an average of 75,000 new students every year. Roughly 80 percent of those new students are spread among just 75 of the state’s more than 1,200 public school districts statewide. Follow Fast Growth School Coalition on Twitter and Facebook: @FastGrowthTexas.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jennifer Harris, 512-773-7168, [email protected]