CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html>     <html class="no-js">  <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/","20150707005144","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1436230304"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title>School Finance Plan Praised in Capitol Hearing | The Texas Tribune</title> <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144im_/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/common/images/favicon.ico"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <meta charset="utf-8"><script type="text/javascript">(window.NREUM||(NREUM={})).loader_config={xpid:"UgMGVFZADAYCUVBR"};window.NREUM||(NREUM={}),__nr_require=function(t,e,n){function r(n){if(!e[n]){var o=e[n]={exports:{}};t[n][0].call(o.exports,function(e){var o=t[n][1][e];return r(o?o:e)},o,o.exports)}return e[n].exports}if("function"==typeof __nr_require)return __nr_require;for(var o=0;o<n.length;o++)r(n[o]);return r}({QJf3ax:[function(t,e){function n(t){function e(e,n,a){t&&t(e,n,a),a||(a={});for(var c=s(e),f=c.length,u=i(a,o,r),d=0;f>d;d++)c[d].apply(u,n);return u}function a(t,e){f[t]=s(t).concat(e)}function s(t){return f[t]||[]}function c(){return n(e)}var f={};return{on:a,emit:e,create:c,listeners:s,_events:f}}function r(){return{}}var o="nr@context",i=t("gos");e.exports=n()},{gos:"7eSDFh"}],ee:[function(t,e){e.exports=t("QJf3ax")},{}],3:[function(t){function e(t){try{i.console&&console.log(t)}catch(e){}}var n,r=t("ee"),o=t(1),i={};try{n=localStorage.getItem("__nr_flags").split(","),console&&"function"==typeof console.log&&(i.console=!0,-1!==n.indexOf("dev")&&(i.dev=!0),-1!==n.indexOf("nr_dev")&&(i.nrDev=!0))}catch(a){}i.nrDev&&r.on("internal-error",function(t){e(t.stack)}),i.dev&&r.on("fn-err",function(t,n,r){e(r.stack)}),i.dev&&(e("NR AGENT IN DEVELOPMENT MODE"),e("flags: "+o(i,function(t){return t}).join(", ")))},{1:23,ee:"QJf3ax"}],4:[function(t){function e(t,e,n,i,s){try{c?c-=1:r("err",[s||new UncaughtException(t,e,n)])}catch(f){try{r("ierr",[f,(new Date).getTime(),!0])}catch(u){}}return"function"==typeof a?a.apply(this,o(arguments)):!1}function UncaughtException(t,e,n){this.message=t||"Uncaught error with no additional information",this.sourceURL=e,this.line=n}function n(t){r("err",[t,(new Date).getTime()])}var r=t("handle"),o=t(6),i=t("ee"),a=window.onerror,s=!1,c=0;t("loader").features.err=!0,t(5),window.onerror=e;try{throw new Error}catch(f){"stack"in f&&(t(1),t(2),"addEventListener"in window&&t(3),window.XMLHttpRequest&&XMLHttpRequest.prototype&&XMLHttpRequest.prototype.addEventListener&&window.XMLHttpRequest&&XMLHttpRequest.prototype&&XMLHttpRequest.prototype.addEventListener&&!/CriOS/.test(navigator.userAgent)&&t(4),s=!0)}i.on("fn-start",function(){s&&(c+=1)}),i.on("fn-err",function(t,e,r){s&&(this.thrown=!0,n(r))}),i.on("fn-end",function(){s&&!this.thrown&&c>0&&(c-=1)}),i.on("internal-error",function(t){r("ierr",[t,(new Date).getTime(),!0])})},{1:10,2:9,3:7,4:11,5:3,6:24,ee:"QJf3ax",handle:"D5DuLP",loader:"G9z0Bl"}],5:[function(t){t("loader").features.ins=!0},{loader:"G9z0Bl"}],6:[function(t){function e(){}if(window.performance&&window.performance.timing&&window.performance.getEntriesByType){var n=t("ee"),r=t("handle"),o=t(1),i=t(2);t("loader").features.stn=!0,t(3),n.on("fn-start",function(t){var e=t[0];e instanceof Event&&(this.bstStart=Date.now())}),n.on("fn-end",function(t,e){var n=t[0];n instanceof Event&&r("bst",[n,e,this.bstStart,Date.now()])}),o.on("fn-start",function(t,e,n){this.bstStart=Date.now(),this.bstType=n}),o.on("fn-end",function(t,e){r("bstTimer",[e,this.bstStart,Date.now(),this.bstType])}),i.on("fn-start",function(){this.bstStart=Date.now()}),i.on("fn-end",function(t,e){r("bstTimer",[e,this.bstStart,Date.now(),"requestAnimationFrame"])}),n.on("pushState-start",function(){this.time=Date.now(),this.startPath=location.pathname+location.hash}),n.on("pushState-end",function(){r("bstHist",[location.pathname+location.hash,this.startPath,this.time])}),"addEventListener"in window.performance&&(window.performance.addEventListener("webkitresourcetimingbufferfull",function(){r("bstResource",[window.performance.getEntriesByType("resource")]),window.performance.webkitClearResourceTimings()},!1),window.performance.addEventListener("resourcetimingbufferfull",function(){r("bstResource",[window.performance.getEntriesByType("resource")]),window.performance.clearResourceTimings()},!1)),document.addEventListener("scroll",e,!1),document.addEventListener("keypress",e,!1),document.addEventListener("click",e,!1)}},{1:10,2:9,3:8,ee:"QJf3ax",handle:"D5DuLP",loader:"G9z0Bl"}],7:[function(t,e){function n(t){i.inPlace(t,["addEventListener","removeEventListener"],"-",r)}function r(t){return t[1]}var o=(t(1),t("ee").create()),i=t(2)(o),a=t("gos");if(e.exports=o,n(window),"getPrototypeOf"in Object){for(var s=document;s&&!s.hasOwnProperty("addEventListener");)s=Object.getPrototypeOf(s);s&&n(s);for(var c=XMLHttpRequest.prototype;c&&!c.hasOwnProperty("addEventListener");)c=Object.getPrototypeOf(c);c&&n(c)}else XMLHttpRequest.prototype.hasOwnProperty("addEventListener")&&n(XMLHttpRequest.prototype);o.on("addEventListener-start",function(t){if(t[1]){var e=t[1];"function"==typeof e?this.wrapped=t[1]=a(e,"nr@wrapped",function(){return i(e,"fn-",null,e.name||"anonymous")}):"function"==typeof e.handleEvent&&i.inPlace(e,["handleEvent"],"fn-")}}),o.on("removeEventListener-start",function(t){var e=this.wrapped;e&&(t[1]=e)})},{1:24,2:25,ee:"QJf3ax",gos:"7eSDFh"}],8:[function(t,e){var n=(t(2),t("ee").create()),r=t(1)(n);e.exports=n,r.inPlace(window.history,["pushState"],"-")},{1:25,2:24,ee:"QJf3ax"}],9:[function(t,e){var n=(t(2),t("ee").create()),r=t(1)(n);e.exports=n,r.inPlace(window,["requestAnimationFrame","mozRequestAnimationFrame","webkitRequestAnimationFrame","msRequestAnimationFrame"],"raf-"),n.on("raf-start",function(t){t[0]=r(t[0],"fn-")})},{1:25,2:24,ee:"QJf3ax"}],10:[function(t,e){function n(t,e,n){t[0]=o(t[0],"fn-",null,n)}var r=(t(2),t("ee").create()),o=t(1)(r);e.exports=r,o.inPlace(window,["setTimeout","setInterval","setImmediate"],"setTimer-"),r.on("setTimer-start",n)},{1:25,2:24,ee:"QJf3ax"}],11:[function(t,e){function n(){f.inPlace(this,p,"fn-")}function r(t,e){f.inPlace(e,["onreadystatechange"],"fn-")}function o(t,e){return e}function i(t,e){for(var n in t)e[n]=t[n];return e}var a=t("ee").create(),s=t(1),c=t(2),f=c(a),u=c(s),d=window.XMLHttpRequest,p=["onload","onerror","onabort","onloadstart","onloadend","onprogress","ontimeout"];e.exports=a,window.XMLHttpRequest=function(t){var e=new d(t);try{a.emit("new-xhr",[],e),u.inPlace(e,["addEventListener","removeEventListener"],"-",o),e.addEventListener("readystatechange",n,!1)}catch(r){try{a.emit("internal-error",[r])}catch(i){}}return e},i(d,XMLHttpRequest),XMLHttpRequest.prototype=d.prototype,f.inPlace(XMLHttpRequest.prototype,["open","send"],"-xhr-",o),a.on("send-xhr-start",r),a.on("open-xhr-start",r)},{1:7,2:25,ee:"QJf3ax"}],12:[function(t){function e(t){var e=this.params,r=this.metrics;if(!this.ended){this.ended=!0;for(var i=0;c>i;i++)t.removeEventListener(s[i],this.listener,!1);if(!e.aborted){if(r.duration=(new Date).getTime()-this.startTime,4===t.readyState){e.status=t.status;var a=t.responseType,f="arraybuffer"===a||"blob"===a||"json"===a?t.response:t.responseText,u=n(f);if(u&&(r.rxSize=u),this.sameOrigin){var d=t.getResponseHeader("X-NewRelic-App-Data");d&&(e.cat=d.split(", ").pop())}}else e.status=0;r.cbTime=this.cbTime,o("xhr",[e,r,this.startTime])}}}function n(t){if("string"==typeof t&&t.length)return t.length;if("object"!=typeof t)return void 0;if("undefined"!=typeof ArrayBuffer&&t instanceof ArrayBuffer&&t.byteLength)return t.byteLength;if("undefined"!=typeof Blob&&t instanceof Blob&&t.size)return t.size;if("undefined"!=typeof FormData&&t instanceof FormData)return void 0;try{return JSON.stringify(t).length}catch(e){return void 0}}function r(t,e){var n=i(e),r=t.params;r.host=n.hostname+":"+n.port,r.pathname=n.pathname,t.sameOrigin=n.sameOrigin}if(window.XMLHttpRequest&&XMLHttpRequest.prototype&&XMLHttpRequest.prototype.addEventListener&&!/CriOS/.test(navigator.userAgent)){t("loader").features.xhr=!0;var o=t("handle"),i=t(2),a=t("ee"),s=["load","error","abort","timeout"],c=s.length,f=t(1);t(4),t(3),a.on("new-xhr",function(){this.totalCbs=0,this.called=0,this.cbTime=0,this.end=e,this.ended=!1,this.xhrGuids={}}),a.on("open-xhr-start",function(t){this.params={method:t[0]},r(this,t[1]),this.metrics={}}),a.on("open-xhr-end",function(t,e){"loader_config"in NREUM&&"xpid"in NREUM.loader_config&&this.sameOrigin&&e.setRequestHeader("X-NewRelic-ID",NREUM.loader_config.xpid)}),a.on("send-xhr-start",function(t,e){var r=this.metrics,o=t[0],i=this;if(r&&o){var f=n(o);f&&(r.txSize=f)}this.startTime=(new Date).getTime(),this.listener=function(t){try{"abort"===t.type&&(i.params.aborted=!0),("load"!==t.type||i.called===i.totalCbs&&(i.onloadCalled||"function"!=typeof e.onload))&&i.end(e)}catch(n){try{a.emit("internal-error",[n])}catch(r){}}};for(var u=0;c>u;u++)e.addEventListener(s[u],this.listener,!1)}),a.on("xhr-cb-time",function(t,e,n){this.cbTime+=t,e?this.onloadCalled=!0:this.called+=1,this.called!==this.totalCbs||!this.onloadCalled&&"function"==typeof n.onload||this.end(n)}),a.on("xhr-load-added",function(t,e){var n=""+f(t)+!!e;this.xhrGuids&&!this.xhrGuids[n]&&(this.xhrGuids[n]=!0,this.totalCbs+=1)}),a.on("xhr-load-removed",function(t,e){var n=""+f(t)+!!e;this.xhrGuids&&this.xhrGuids[n]&&(delete this.xhrGuids[n],this.totalCbs-=1)}),a.on("addEventListener-end",function(t,e){e instanceof XMLHttpRequest&&"load"===t[0]&&a.emit("xhr-load-added",[t[1],t[2]],e)}),a.on("removeEventListener-end",function(t,e){e instanceof XMLHttpRequest&&"load"===t[0]&&a.emit("xhr-load-removed",[t[1],t[2]],e)}),a.on("fn-start",function(t,e,n){e instanceof XMLHttpRequest&&("onload"===n&&(this.onload=!0),("load"===(t[0]&&t[0].type)||this.onload)&&(this.xhrCbStart=(new Date).getTime()))}),a.on("fn-end",function(t,e){this.xhrCbStart&&a.emit("xhr-cb-time",[(new Date).getTime()-this.xhrCbStart,this.onload,e],e)})}},{1:"XL7HBI",2:13,3:11,4:7,ee:"QJf3ax",handle:"D5DuLP",loader:"G9z0Bl"}],13:[function(t,e){e.exports=function(t){var e=document.createElement("a"),n=window.location,r={};e.href=t,r.port=e.port;var o=e.href.split("://");return!r.port&&o[1]&&(r.port=o[1].split("/")[0].split("@").pop().split(":")[1]),r.port&&"0"!==r.port||(r.port="https"===o[0]?"443":"80"),r.hostname=e.hostname||n.hostname,r.pathname=e.pathname,r.protocol=o[0],"/"!==r.pathname.charAt(0)&&(r.pathname="/"+r.pathname),r.sameOrigin=!e.hostname||e.hostname===document.domain&&e.port===n.port&&e.protocol===n.protocol,r}},{}],14:[function(t,e){function n(t){return function(){r(t,[(new Date).getTime()].concat(i(arguments)))}}var r=t("handle"),o=t(1),i=t(2);"undefined"==typeof window.newrelic&&(newrelic=window.NREUM);var a=["setPageViewName","addPageAction","setCustomAttribute","finished","addToTrace","inlineHit","noticeError"];o(a,function(t,e){window.NREUM[e]=n("api-"+e)}),e.exports=window.NREUM},{1:23,2:24,handle:"D5DuLP"}],"7eSDFh":[function(t,e){function n(t,e,n){if(r.call(t,e))return t[e];var o=n();if(Object.defineProperty&&Object.keys)try{return Object.defineProperty(t,e,{value:o,writable:!0,enumerable:!1}),o}catch(i){}return t[e]=o,o}var r=Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;e.exports=n},{}],gos:[function(t,e){e.exports=t("7eSDFh")},{}],handle:[function(t,e){e.exports=t("D5DuLP")},{}],D5DuLP:[function(t,e){function n(t,e,n){return r.listeners(t).length?r.emit(t,e,n):(o[t]||(o[t]=[]),void o[t].push(e))}var r=t("ee").create(),o={};e.exports=n,n.ee=r,r.q=o},{ee:"QJf3ax"}],id:[function(t,e){e.exports=t("XL7HBI")},{}],XL7HBI:[function(t,e){function n(t){var e=typeof t;return!t||"object"!==e&&"function"!==e?-1:t===window?0:i(t,o,function(){return r++})}var r=1,o="nr@id",i=t("gos");e.exports=n},{gos:"7eSDFh"}],G9z0Bl:[function(t,e){function n(){var t=p.info=NREUM.info,e=f.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];if(t&&t.licenseKey&&t.applicationID&&e){s(d,function(e,n){e in t||(t[e]=n)});var n="https"===u.split(":")[0]||t.sslForHttp;p.proto=n?"https://":"http://",a("mark",["onload",i()]);var r=f.createElement("script");r.src=p.proto+t.agent,e.parentNode.insertBefore(r,e)}}function r(){"complete"===f.readyState&&o()}function o(){a("mark",["domContent",i()])}function i(){return(new Date).getTime()}var a=t("handle"),s=t(1),c=(t(2),window),f=c.document,u=(""+location).split("?")[0],d={beacon:"bam.nr-data.net",errorBeacon:"bam.nr-data.net",agent:"js-agent.newrelic.com/nr-632.min.js"},p=e.exports={offset:i(),origin:u,features:{}};f.addEventListener?(f.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",o,!1),c.addEventListener("load",n,!1)):(f.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",r),c.attachEvent("onload",n)),a("mark",["firstbyte",i()])},{1:23,2:14,handle:"D5DuLP"}],loader:[function(t,e){e.exports=t("G9z0Bl")},{}],23:[function(t,e){function n(t,e){var n=[],o="",i=0;for(o in t)r.call(t,o)&&(n[i]=e(o,t[o]),i+=1);return n}var r=Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;e.exports=n},{}],24:[function(t,e){function n(t,e,n){e||(e=0),"undefined"==typeof n&&(n=t?t.length:0);for(var r=-1,o=n-e||0,i=Array(0>o?0:o);++r<o;)i[r]=t[e+r];return i}e.exports=n},{}],25:[function(t,e){function n(t){return!(t&&"function"==typeof t&&t.apply&&!t[i])}var r=t("ee"),o=t(1),i="nr@wrapper",a=Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;e.exports=function(t){function e(t,e,r,a){function nrWrapper(){var n,i,s,f;try{i=this,n=o(arguments),s=r&&r(n,i)||{}}catch(d){u([d,"",[n,i,a],s])}c(e+"start",[n,i,a],s);try{return f=t.apply(i,n)}catch(p){throw c(e+"err",[n,i,p],s),p}finally{c(e+"end",[n,i,f],s)}}return n(t)?t:(e||(e=""),nrWrapper[i]=!0,f(t,nrWrapper),nrWrapper)}function s(t,r,o,i){o||(o="");var a,s,c,f="-"===o.charAt(0);for(c=0;c<r.length;c++)s=r[c],a=t[s],n(a)||(t[s]=e(a,f?s+o:o,i,s))}function c(e,n,r){try{t.emit(e,n,r)}catch(o){u([o,e,n,r])}}function f(t,e){if(Object.defineProperty&&Object.keys)try{var n=Object.keys(t);return n.forEach(function(n){Object.defineProperty(e,n,{get:function(){return t[n]},set:function(e){return t[n]=e,e}})}),e}catch(r){u([r])}for(var o in t)a.call(t,o)&&(e[o]=t[o]);return e}function u(e){try{t.emit("internal-error",e)}catch(n){}}return t||(t=r),e.inPlace=s,e.flag=i,e}},{1:24,ee:"QJf3ax"}]},{},["G9z0Bl",4,12,6,5]);</script><script type="text/javascript">window.NREUM||(NREUM={});NREUM.info={"beacon":"bam.nr-data.net","queueTime":0,"licenseKey":"8636ab2091","agent":"js-agent.newrelic.com/nr-632.min.js","transactionName":"ZwZWZ0NWD0VRAE1YCV5MckZfVBVfXw0WUgleF1FdRRkSQl8RUFQVHhVdVkZEW3VfDU1UCEQnUUdQXg0=","applicationID":"452513","errorBeacon":"bam.nr-data.net","applicationTime":342}</script> <meta name="description" content="A plan to overhaul the state&rsquo;s public education funding system from a top House lawmaker received largely favorable reviews from school districts during a marathon legislative hearing that ended late Tuesday night."/> <meta name="keywords" content=""/> <meta property="twitter:card" content="photo"/> <meta property="twitter:site" content="The Texas Tribune"/> <meta property="twitter:title" content="School Finance Plan Praised in Capitol Hearing, by Morgan Smith"/> <meta property="twitter:description" content="A plan to overhaul the state&rsquo;s public education funding system from a top House lawmaker received largely favorable reviews from school districts during a marathon legislative hearing that ended late Tuesday night."/> <meta property="twitter:image" content="https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/31/HS055Aycock_jpg_407x1000_q100.jpg"> <meta name="parsely-title" content="School Finance Plan Praised in Capitol Hearing"/> <meta name="parsely-link" content="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/"/> <meta name="parsely-pub-date" content="April 15, 2015, 6:31 a.m."/> <meta name="parsely-author" content="Morgan Smith"/> <meta name="parsely-section" content="FRONT PAGE, EDUCATION"/> <meta property="parsely-image-url" content="https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/31/HS055Aycock_jpg_407x1000_q100.jpg"> <meta name="parsely-type" content="post"/> <meta property="fb:app_id" content="154122474650943"> <meta property="og:site_name" content="The Texas Tribune"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/"/> <meta property="twitter:url" content="https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/"/> <meta property="og:title" content="School Finance Plan Praised in Capitol Hearing, by Morgan Smith"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:description" content="A plan to overhaul the state&rsquo;s public education funding system from a top House lawmaker received largely favorable reviews from school districts during a marathon legislative hearing that ended late Tuesday night."/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144im_/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/31/HS055Aycock_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg"/>  <script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144js_/https://use.typekit.com/brb4jmm.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript">try{Typekit.load();}catch(e){}</script> <link href="https://plus.google.com/116406259333166116089/" rel="publisher"/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144cs_/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/COMPRESSED/css/29130aab3b88.css" type="text/css"/>  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144cs_/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/common/css/story_base.css"> <script> (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-9827490-1', 'texastribune.org'); ga('require', 'displayfeatures'); ga('send', 'pageview'); </script> <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= '//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','mipData','GTM-NBBG35');</script> <script>// var tt = tt || {}; tt.debug = false; tt.media_url = 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/common/'; tt.facebook = {appId: '154122474650943'}; // Doubleclick integration tt.ads = { // targeting: {}, // addTarget: function(key, value) { if (typeof key === 'undefined'){ // get all attrs return tt.ads.targeting; } else { // set attr tt.ads.targeting[key] = value; } } }; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144js_/https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.2/jquery.min.js"></script> <script>window.jQuery || document.write('<script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/common/vendor/jquery/1.7.2/jquery.min.js"><\/script>')</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144js_/https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.18/jquery-ui.min.js"></script> <script>window.jQuery.ui || document.write('<script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/common/vendor/jqueryui/jquery-ui-1.8.18.min.js"><\/script>')</script> <script src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144js_/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/common/vendor/modernizr/modernizr.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> var tt = tt || {}; tt.currentPage = tt.currentPage || {}; var shortenedHash = '1yuyBuP'; tt.currentPage.canonicalUrl = '/2015/04/15/school\u002Dfinance\u002Dplan\u002Dgets\u002Dhouse\u002Dhearing/'; var authorTwitterAccounts = ['']; tt.currentPage.authors = [ "Morgan Smith" ]; tt.currentPage.authorsText = "Morgan Smith"; tt.currentPage.sections = [ "article" ]; tt.currentPage.sections.push("FRONT PAGE"); tt.currentPage.sections.push("EDUCATION"); </script> </head> <body class="story responsive"> <script type="text/javascript"> var _qevents = _qevents || []; (function() { var elem = document.createElement('script'); elem.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://secure" : "https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://edge") + ".quantserve.com/quant.js"; elem.async = true; elem.type = "text/javascript"; var scpt = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; scpt.parentNode.insertBefore(elem, scpt); })(); </script> <script type="text/javascript">var _sf_startpt=(new Date()).getTime()</script> <div class="wrapper-r"> <div id="site_roofline" style="position:relative;"> <div class="hide-for-mobile large_ad_container"> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="728x90" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Site_Roofline1_ATF_Leaderboard_728x90"> </div> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="728x90" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Site_Roofline2_ATF_Leaderboard_728x90"> </div> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="728x90" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Site_Roofline3_ATF_Leaderboard_728x90"> </div> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="728x90" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Site_Roofline4_ATF_Leaderboard_728x90"> </div> </div> <div class="mobile-only"> <div class="ad adunit mobile" data-dimensions="300x100" data-adunit="_TexasTribune_Site_Roofline1_ATF_Leaderboard_300x100"> </div> <div class="ad adunit mobile" data-dimensions="300x100" data-adunit="_TexasTribune_Site_Roofline2_ATF_Leaderboard_300x100"> </div> <div class="ad adunit mobile" data-dimensions="300x100" data-adunit="_TexasTribune_Site_Roofline3_ATF_Leaderboard_300x100"> </div> <div class="ad adunit mobile" data-dimensions="300x100" data-adunit="_TexasTribune_Site_Roofline4_ATF_Leaderboard_300x100"> </div> </div> </div> <div id="greeting"> <ul> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/accounts/register/" title="Register for your free Texas Tribune account">Register</a> </li> <li class="last"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/accounts/login/?next=">Login</a> <script> (function(){ var allScripts = document.getElementsByTagName('script'), currentScript = allScripts[allScripts.length - 1], node = currentScript; while (node = node.previousSibling) { if (node.nodeName == "A"){ node.href += document.location.pathname; break; } }; })(); </script> </li> </ul> </div> <header id="site_header"> <nav class="navbar primary"> <ul> <li class="hide-for-mobile navbar-search"> <form method="get" action="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/search/"> <input id="site_search_q" name="q" type="text" value="" placeholder="Search..."> <button type="submit" aria-label="Submit"><i class="icon-search"></i></button> </form> </li> <li class="active hide-for-mobile dropdown-toggle"> <a class="dropdown-toggle" href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/"> Front Page </a> <div class="mega-dropdown grid" id="sections"> <div class="cell w-3 tab_nav_cell"> <ul id="sidemenu" class="tab-nav"> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/economy/" data-section="economy"> Economy </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/education/" data-section="education"> Education </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/energy-and-environment/" data-section="energy-and-environment"> Energy & Environment</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/government/" data-section="government"> Government </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/health-and-human-services/" data-section="health-and-human-services"> Health & Human Services </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/law-and-order/" data-section="law-and-order"> Law & Order </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/people/" data-section="people"> People </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/politics/" data-section="politics"> Politics </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/race-and-immigration/" data-section="race-and-immigration"> Race & Immigration </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/transportation/" data-section="transportation"> Transportation </a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="sections-tab-container" class="cell w-9 tab_container" data-content-resource="/esi/components/megadropdown/"> <div style="padding: 1em; font-family: 'LeagueGothicRegular'; font-size:2.1em; color: #999; ">Loading...</div> </div> </div> </li> <li class="hide-for-mobile"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/data/"> Data </a> </li> <li class="hide-for-mobile"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/directory/"> Directory </a> </li> <li class="hide-for-mobile"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/events/"> Events </a> </li> <li class="hide-for-mobile"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/festival/"> Festival </a> </li> <li class="hide-for-mobile dropdown-toggle"> <a class="multimedia" href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/multimedia/"> Multimedia </a> <ul class="dropdown"> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/livestream/">Livestream</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="hide-for-mobile dropdown-toggle"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/subscribe/"> Newsletters </a> <ul class="dropdown"> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/tribpedia/the-brief/">The Brief</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/texas-weekly/">Texas Weekly</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/plus/edu/">Trib+Edu</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/plus/health/">Trib+Health</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/plus/water/">Trib+Water</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="hide-for-mobile"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.tribtalk.org/"> TribTalk </a> </li> <li class="hide-for-mobile"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/investigations/" title="Investigations"> Investigations </a> </li> <li class="hide-for-mobile"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2016/" title="2016 Presidential Elections"> 2016 </a> </li> <li class="mobile-only active dropdown-toggle"> <a href="#"> Menu<i class="icon-caret-down"></i> </a> <ul class="mobile-dropdown"> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/">Front Page</a> </li> <li> <a class="data" href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/data/">Data</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/directory/">Directory</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/events/">Events</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/festival/">Festival</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/multimedia/">Multimedia</a> </li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/livestream/">Livestream</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/tribpedia/the-brief/">The Brief</a></li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/texas-weekly/">Texas Weekly</a> </li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/plus/edu/">Trib+Edu</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/plus/health/">Trib+Health</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/plus/water/">Trib+Water</a></li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.tribtalk.org/">TribTalk</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/investigations/" title="Investigations"> Investigations </a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2016/" title="2016 Presidential Elections"> 2016 </a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="mobile-only dropdown-toggle"> <a href="#"> Sections<i class="icon-caret-down"></i> </a> <ul class="mobile-dropdown"> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/economy/" data-section="economy"> Economy </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/education/" data-section="education"> Education </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/energy-and-environment/" data-section="energy-and-environment"> Energy & Environment</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/government/" data-section="government"> Government </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/health-and-human-services/" data-section="health-and-human-services"> Health & Human Services </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/law-and-order/" data-section="law-and-order"> Law & Order </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/people/" data-section="people"> People </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/politics/" data-section="politics"> Politics </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/race-and-immigration/" data-section="race-and-immigration"> Race & Immigration </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/transportation/" data-section="transportation"> Transportation </a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="mobile-only dropdown-toggle"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/search/"><i class="icon-search"></i></a> <div class="mobile-dropdown mobile-search"> <form method="get" action="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/search/"> <input name="q" type="text" value="" placeholder="SEARCH"> <button type="search" alt="Do Search"> <i class="icon-search"></i> </button> </form> </div> </li> <li class="mobile-only active" id="mobi_join"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://support.texastribune.org/"> Support Us </a> </li> </ul> </nav> <div class="ad last"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/join/" title="Contribute Today" style="display: block; padding-top: .5em"> <div style="background:url(//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144im_/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/membership/TT-support-us-front-page-btn120x60.jpg) no-repeat; width: 120px; height:60px; background-size: 120px 60px;"></div> </a> </div> <div class="below_nav"> <h1 id="logo"><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144im_/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/common/images/logo.png" alt="The Texas Tribune"></a></h1> <time datetime="2015-07-06T19:51:47.485197">Monday, July 6, 2015</time> </div> </header> </div> <div class="wrapper content-wrapper"> <div id="site_content" class="content "> <div class="grid"> <div class="cell w-8 main_column"> <article class="last"> <header> <h1>School Finance Plan Praised in Capitol Hearing</h1> <ul class="meta separator"><li class="byline"> by <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/morgan-smith/" rel="author">Morgan Smith</a></li><li><time datetime="Wed, 15 Apr 2015 06:31:10 -0500" title="2015-04-15 06:31"> April 15, 2015 </time></li><li class="comments"><a class="comments" href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/comments/"><span class="value">9</span><span class="label">Comments</span></a></li></ul> </header> <aside> <ul class="social_links"> <li class="comment"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/comments/" title=""> <i class="icon-comments-alt"></i> <span>Comment</span> </a> </li> <li class="republish"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/content/republish/85227/"> <i class="icon-share"></i> <span>Republish</span> </a> </li> <li class="email"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5c632f293e36393f2861083439796e6c0839243d2f796e6c082e353e29323966796e6c0f3f34333330796e6c1a35323d323f39796e6c0c303d32796e6c0c2e3d352fXed%20in%20Capitol%20Hearing&body=I%20read an article%20that%20you%20might%20be%20interested%20in%20at%20The%20Texas%20Tribune:%20School%20Finance%20Plan%20Praised%20in%20Capitol%20Hearing%2C%20by%20Morgan Smith.%20http://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/%0DA%20plan%20to%20overhaul%20the%20state%26rsquo%3Bs%20public%20education%20funding%20system%20from%20a%20top%20House%20lawmaker%20received%20largely%20favorable%20reviews%20from%20school%20districts%20during%20a%20marathon%20legislative%20hearing%20that%20ended%20late%20Tuesday%20night." title="" class="email"> <i class="icon-envelope"></i> <span>Email</span> </a> </li> <li class="twitter"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://twitter.com/share?text=School Finance Plan Praised in Capitol Hearing&url=http://trib.it/1yuyBuP&via=TexasTribune&related=TexasTribune,TribData"> <i class="icon-twitter"></i> <span>Tweet</span> </a> </li> <li class="facebook"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/"> <i class="icon-facebook"></i> <span>Recommend</span> </a> </li> </ul> </aside> <div class="content"> <div class="media article_detail unprose"> <a href="//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/31/HS055Aycock_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg" title="House Public Education Committee chair Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, on the floor during House Bill 1 debate March 31, 2015." class="lightbox"> <img src="//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144im_/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/31/HS055Aycock_jpg_312x1000_q100.jpg" alt="House Public Education Committee chair Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, on the floor during House Bill 1 debate March 31, 2015."> </a> <div class="photo_links"> <a href="//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/03/31/HS055Aycock_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg" title="House Public Education Committee chair Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, on the floor during House Bill 1 debate March 31, 2015." class="lightbox enlarge">Enlarge</a> <cite>Photo by Bob Daemmrich </cite> </div> <div class="photo_caption">House Public Education Committee chair Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, on the floor during House Bill 1 debate March 31, 2015.</div> </div> <p><sup>*Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.</sup></p> <p>A plan from a top House lawmaker to overhaul the state’s public education funding system received largely favorable reviews from school districts during a marathon legislative hearing that ended late Tuesday night.</p> <p>“While this bill, some consider it not to be perfect, for us fortunately it is a significant step in the right direction,” Houston Independent School District Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones said during a meeting of the House Committee on Public Education.</p> <p>Committee Chairman <a title="" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.texastribune.org/directory/jimmie-don-aycock/">Jimmie Don Aycock</a>, R-Killeen, has argued since the legislative session began that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.texastribune.org/2015/01/12/education-chairman-calls-school-finance-discussion/">lawmakers shouldn’t wait for the outcome of a school finance lawsuit</a> to consider changes to the school finance system.</p> <p>In March, Aycock said that after months of discussion House leaders had decided to push for an update to the system. His proposal, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=84R&Bill=HB1759">House Bill 1759</a>, seeks to simplify and bring more equity to district funding across the state.<span style="line-height: 1.35;"> </span></p><div class="ad_container ad_container--adify"> <div class="ad adunit mobile tablet standard" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Content_StoryPage_InsideStory_468x60"> </div> </div> <p>"We had to ask the fundamental question: Do we want to do what's right for the state of Texas and the children of Texas, or do we want to sit around and try to play lawyer and outguess the courts?" he told reporters at a Capitol news conference last month.</p> <p>Texas school districts filed litigation challenging the state's school finance system after lawmakers slashed more than $5 billion from the public education budget in 2011.</p> <p>A Travis County district judge<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.texastribune.org/2014/09/26/judge-issues-school-finance-ruling/"> ruled in the districts' favor</a> in August, saying the way the state distributes money to districts is unconstitutional because of both inadequate and unequal funding. The state appealed the lawsuit to the high court, which is expected to hear the case this year.</p> <p>Aycock's proposal removes multiple provisions in the current school finance system. </p> <p>It drops the number of districts that must send money back to the state under “recapture,” or what’s commonly known as Robin Hood. The nickname comes from the practice of taking property tax revenue from richer districts and redistributing it to poorer districts in an attempt to equalize school funding throughout Texas.</p> <p>That adjustment, Skillern-Jones said, was a life raft for school districts that are “property rich, but poor in students” — those that have high property values but large populations of low-income students — like Houston. The district faces sending $200 million back to the state in the 2016-2017 school year.</p> <p>(See how individual school districts would fare under Aycock's plan <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/84R/handouts/C4002015040714001/C4002015040714001.pdf">here</a>.)</p> <p>It also eliminates the “Cost of Education Index,” which gives districts extra money based on characteristics like size, teacher salaries in neighboring districts and percentage of low-income students. Under Aycock’s proposal, that money would instead go to overall per-student funding.</p><div class="ad_container ad_container--adify"> <div class="ad adunit mobile tablet standard" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Content_StoryPage_InsideStory2_468x60"> </div> </div> <p>That change that generated the most discussion Tuesday. Both smaller school districts that would lose money meant to help them account for economies of scale and districts with high numbers of the low-income and English-language learning students that the index is supposed to help raised caution about the effects of such a shift.</p> <p>“While I never say no to money … I would ask that it would be looked at in the way that it is distributed,” said Alief ISD Superintendent H.D. Chambers. “I believe that our most needy students … are perhaps are going to get left out.”</p> <p><span>Representatives from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Center For Public Policy Priorities said it would actually increase, not decrease, in</span><span>equity</span><span> in the public education system. </span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 1.35;">Many who spoke at the hearing</span><span style="line-height: 1.35;"> praised Aycock for tackling the topic of school finance without waiting for a decision from the Texas Supreme Court. </span></p> <p>"There are lots of good things here. This is actually a bold bill in that it does some things that we haven’t done yet," said Wayne Pierce, the executive director of the Equity Center, a nonprofit organization that represents school districts with low property wealth. "It seems to step out and take some risks." </p> <p>On Tuesday, Aycock adjourned the committee without taking a vote on the bill.</p> </div> <aside> <ul class="social_links"> <li class="comment"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/comments/" title=""> <i class="icon-comments-alt"></i> <span>Comment</span> </a> </li> <li class="republish"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/content/republish/85227/"> <i class="icon-share"></i> <span>Republish</span> </a> </li> <li class="email"> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ead5999f88808f899ed7be828fcfd8dabe8f928b99cfd8dabe9883889f848fd0cfd8dab98982858586cfd8daac83848b84898fcfd8daba868b84cfd8daba988b8399Xed%20in%20Capitol%20Hearing&body=I%20read an article%20that%20you%20might%20be%20interested%20in%20at%20The%20Texas%20Tribune:%20School%20Finance%20Plan%20Praised%20in%20Capitol%20Hearing%2C%20by%20Morgan Smith.%20http://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/%0DA%20plan%20to%20overhaul%20the%20state%26rsquo%3Bs%20public%20education%20funding%20system%20from%20a%20top%20House%20lawmaker%20received%20largely%20favorable%20reviews%20from%20school%20districts%20during%20a%20marathon%20legislative%20hearing%20that%20ended%20late%20Tuesday%20night." title="" class="email"> <i class="icon-envelope"></i> <span>Email</span> </a> </li> <li class="twitter"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://twitter.com/share?text=School Finance Plan Praised in Capitol Hearing&url=http://trib.it/1yuyBuP&via=TexasTribune&related=TexasTribune,TribData"> <i class="icon-twitter"></i> <span>Tweet</span> </a> </li> <li class="facebook"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/15/school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing/"> <i class="icon-facebook"></i> <span>Recommend</span> </a> </li> </ul> </aside> <footer> <div class="grid"> <div class="cell w-6"> <aside class="sidebar_block related content_list"> <header> <h2>Related Content</h2> </header> <dl> <dt> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://txlege.texastribune.org/livestream/">Livestream: Watch Texas Legislators in Action</a> </dt> <dd> <ul class="meta short separator relative-time"><li class="byline"> by Texas Tribune Staff </li><li><time datetime="Fri, 8 May 2015 15:24:47 -0500" title="2015-05-08 15:24"> May 8, 2015 </time></li></ul> </dd> <dt> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/07/aycock-presents-details-school-finance-plan/">Aycock Presents Details of School Finance Plan</a> </dt> <dd> <ul class="meta short separator relative-time"><li class="byline"> by <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/morgan-smith/">Morgan Smith</a></li><li><time datetime="Tue, 7 Apr 2015 17:14:48 -0500" title="2015-04-07 17:14"> April 7, 2015 </time></li><li class="comments"><a class="comments" href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/04/07/aycock-presents-details-school-finance-plan/comments/"><span class="value">6</span><span class="label">Comments</span></a></li></ul> </dd> <dt> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://txlege.texastribune.org/topics/budget-and-taxes/agreeing-on-the-budget/">The Texas Legislative Guide: Agreeing on the Budget</a> </dt> <dd> <ul class="meta short separator relative-time"><li class="byline"> by <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/ayan-mittra/">Ayan Mittra</a></li><li><time datetime="Tue, 31 Mar 2015 15:58:51 -0500" title="2015-03-31 15:58"> March 31, 2015 </time></li></ul> </dd> <dt> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/12/plan-reform-school-finance-system-life-support/">Plan to Reform School Finance System on Life Support</a> </dt> <dd> <ul class="meta short separator relative-time"><li class="byline"> by <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/morgan-smith/">Morgan Smith</a></li><li><time datetime="Tue, 12 May 2015 14:44:00 -0500" title="2015-05-12 14:44"> May 12, 2015 </time></li><li class="comments"><a class="comments" href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/12/plan-reform-school-finance-system-life-support/comments/"><span class="value">32</span><span class="label">Comments</span></a></li></ul> </dd> </dl> </aside> </div> <div class="cell w-6"> <aside class="sidebar_block related"> <header> <h2>Related Tribpedia</h2> </header> <ul class="related topics indent sans-serif"> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/tribpedia/jimmie-don-aycock/">Jimmie Don Aycock</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/tribpedia/school-finance/">School Finance</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/tribpedia/education/">Education</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/tribpedia/texas-legislature/">Texas Legislature</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/tribpedia/84th-legislature/">The 84th Legislature</a> </li> </ul> </aside> </div> </div> </footer> </article> <nav class="back_to_top"> <a href="#"><i class="icon-arrow-up"></i> Back To Top</a> </nav> </div> <div class=" rail cell w-4 hide-for-medium-down"> <section class="trib_newsletter"> <form action="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://texastribune.us3.list-manage2.com/subscribe/post?u=3d0ce87edeeb6df90043897db&id=68501b81bf" method="post" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" class="validate" target="_blank" novalidate> <header> <h2>Sign Up for The Brief</h2> </header> <p>Our daily news summary</p> <div class="mc-field-group nowrap"> <input type="email" value="" name="EMAIL" class="input_neue required email" id="mce-EMAIL" placeholder="enter your email here"> <input type="submit" value="Submit" name="subscribe" id="mc-embedded-subscribe" class="btn_neue"> </div> <div style="position: absolute; left: -5000px;"><input type="text" name="b_3d0ce87edeeb6df90043897db_68501b81bf" tabindex="-1" value=""></div> </form> </section> <section class="ad_container sidebar_block"> <div class="sponsor_image_holder"> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="300x250" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Content_StoryPage_ATF_RightRail1_MediumRectangle_300x250"> </div> </div> </section> <section class="sidebar_block content_list"> <header> <h1>New on the Trib</h1> </header> <dl> <dt> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/tcu-unt-teaming-start-medical-school/">TCU, UNT Teaming Up to Start Medical School</a> </dt> <dd> <ul class="meta short separator relative-time"><li class="byline"> by <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/matthew-watkins/">Matthew Watkins</a></li><li><time datetime="Mon, 6 Jul 2015 17:41:27 -0500" title="2015-07-06 17:41"> July 6, 2015 </time></li></ul> </dd> <dt> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/democrats-want-task-force-confederate-monuments/">Democrats Want Task Force on Confederate Monuments</a> </dt> <dd> <ul class="meta short separator relative-time"><li class="byline"> by <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/alexa-ura/">Alexa Ura</a></li><li><time datetime="Mon, 6 Jul 2015 16:52:23 -0500" title="2015-07-06 16:52"> July 6, 2015 </time></li><li class="comments"><a class="comments" href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/democrats-want-task-force-confederate-monuments/comments/"><span class="value">5</span><span class="label">Comments</span></a></li></ul> </dd> <dt> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/cecil-bell-calls-mass-resistance-court-rulings/">Cecil Bell Urges Resistance to Gay Marriage Ruling</a> </dt> <dd> <ul class="meta short separator relative-time"><li class="byline"> by <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/ally-mutnick/">Ally Mutnick</a></li><li><time datetime="Mon, 6 Jul 2015 16:50:51 -0500" title="2015-07-06 16:50"> July 6, 2015 </time></li><li class="comments"><a class="comments" href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/cecil-bell-calls-mass-resistance-court-rulings/comments/"><span class="value">43</span><span class="label">Comments</span></a></li></ul> </dd> <dt> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/gay-couple-sues-hood-county-clerk-over-marriage-li/">Gay Couple Suing Hood County Gets Marriage License</a> </dt> <dd> <ul class="meta short separator relative-time"><li class="byline"> by <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/alexa-ura/">Alexa Ura</a></li><li><time datetime="Mon, 6 Jul 2015 11:27:27 -0500" title="2015-07-06 11:27"> July 6, 2015 </time></li><li class="comments"><a class="comments" href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/gay-couple-sues-hood-county-clerk-over-marriage-li/comments/"><span class="value">24</span><span class="label">Comments</span></a></li></ul> </dd> </dl> </section> <section class="ad_container sidebar_block"> <div class="sponsor_image_holder"> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="300x250" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Content_StoryPage_BTF_RightRail2_MediumRectangle_300x250"> </div> </div> </section> <aside id="the_most" class="featurebox "> <header class="featurebox-header"> <h1><span>The</span>Most</h1> </header> <div class="featurebox-content tabs ui-tabs"> <ul class="ui-tabs-nav"> <li class="most_commented"> <a href="#most_commented">Commented</a> </li> <li class="most_viewed"> <a href="#most_viewed">Viewed</a> </li> </ul> <div id="most_commented" class="ui-tabs-panel ui-tabs-hide"> <ol> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/brief-july-6-2015/">The Brief: July 6, 2015</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/05/courts-balancing-of-gay-rights-religious-liberty/">Conservative Lawyers Prepare to Defend Same-Sex Marriage Opponents</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/06/cecil-bell-calls-mass-resistance-court-rulings/">Cecil Bell Urges Resistance to Gay Marriage Ruling</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/04/texas-struggles-attract-mental-health-care-workers/">Texas Hopes to Attract More Mental Health Care Workers</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/05/cruz-boasts-51m-war-chest-after-campaign-rakes-10m/">Cruz Boasts $51M War Chest After Raking in $10M</a> </li> </ol> </div> <div id="most_viewed" class="ui-tabs-panel ui-tabs-hide"> <ol> <li style="list-style: none;"> This data is currently unavailable. </li> </ol> </div> </div> <footer class="clearfix featurebox-footer"> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="200x38" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Content_TheMostWidget_Bottom_Text_200x38"> </div> </footer> </aside> <section class="ad_container sidebar_block"> <div class="sponsor_image_holder"> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="300x250" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Content_StoryPage_BTF_RightRail3_MediumRectangle_300x250"> </div> </div> </section> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="wrapper-r"> <footer id="site_footer" class="wrapper-r"> <div class="hide-for-medium-down"> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="728x90" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Content_StoryLanding_BTF_Footer_Leaderboard_728x90"> </div> </div> <div id="footer" class="grid"> <dl id="staff_writers" class="cell w-3"> <dt>Writers</dt> <div class="cell w-6"> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/becca-aaronson/">Becca Aaronson</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/julian-aguilar/">Juli谩n Aguilar</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/aman-batheja/">Aman Batheja</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/sophia-bollag/">Sophia Bollag</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/mallory-busch/">Mallory Busch</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/liz-crampton/">Liz Crampton</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/annie-daniel/">Annie Daniel</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/justin-dehn/">Justin Dehn</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/rodney-gibbs/">Rodney Gibbs</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/john-jordan/">John Jordan</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/terri-langford/">Terri Langford</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/jeremy-lin/">Jeremy Lin</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/abby-livingston/">Abby Livingston</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/corrie-maclaggan/">Corrie MacLaggan</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/jim-malewitz/">Jim Malewitz</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/jolie-mccullough/">Jolie McCullough</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/ayan-mittra/">Ayan Mittra</a> </dd> </div> <div class="cell w-6"> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/ryan-murphy/">Ryan Murphy</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/ally-mutnick/">Ally Mutnick</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/david-muto/">David Muto</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/david-pasztor/">David Pasztor</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/ross-ramsey/">Ross Ramsey</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/emily-ramshaw/">Emily Ramshaw</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/reynolds-john/">John Reynolds</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/rocha-alana/">Alana Rocha</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/polo-rocha/">Polo Rocha</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/jay-root/">Jay Root</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/neena-satija/">Neena Satija</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/evan-smith/">Evan Smith</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/morgan-smith/">Morgan Smith</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/patrick-svitek/">Patrick Svitek</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/alexa-ura/">Alexa Ura</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/edgar-walters/">Edgar Walters</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/matthew-watkins/">Matthew Watkins</a> </dd> </div> </dl> <div id="footer_topics" class="cell w-3"> <h6>Sections</h6> <ul> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/economy/" data-section="economy"> Economy </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/education/" data-section="education"> Education </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/energy-and-environment/" data-section="energy-and-environment"> Energy & Environment</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/government/" data-section="government"> Government </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/health-and-human-services/" data-section="health-and-human-services"> Health & Human Services </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/law-and-order/" data-section="law-and-order"> Law & Order </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/people/" data-section="people"> People </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/politics/" data-section="politics"> Politics </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/race-and-immigration/" data-section="race-and-immigration"> Race & Immigration </a></li> <li><a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/transportation/" data-section="transportation"> Transportation </a></li> </ul> </div> <dl id="offsite_outlets" class="cell w-3"> <dt>TT Social Media</dt> <dd> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://facebook.com/texastribune" title="Facebook" class="external"><span class="favicon facebook"></span>Facebook</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://twitter.com/texastribune" title="Twitter" class="external"><span class="favicon twitter"></span>Twitter</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://youtube.com/user/thetexastribune" title="YouTube" class="external"><span class="favicon youtube"></span>YouTube</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://instagram.com/texas_tribune" title="Instagram" class="external"><span class="favicon instagram"></span>Instagram</a> </dd> <dd> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://www.linkedin.com/company/texas-tribune" title="LinkedIn" class="external"><span class="favicon linkedin"></span>LinkedIn</a> </dd> <dd class="hidden"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://plus.google.com/116406259333166116089" class="external" rel="publisher">Google+</a> </dd> </dl> <ul id="footer_nav" class="cell w-3"> <li>© 2015 The Texas Tribune</li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/about/" title="About Us">About Us</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/" title="Who Funds Us?">Who Funds Us?</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/terms-of-service/" title="Terms of Service">Terms of Service</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/republishing-guidelines/" title="Republishing Guidelines">Republishing Guidelines</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/ethics/" title="Code of Ethics">Code of Ethics</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/privacy/" title="Privacy Policy">Privacy Policy</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#026b6c73776b706b67714276677a637176706b60776c672c6d7065" title="Contact Us">Contact Us</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/corrections/" title="Corrections">Corrections</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/feeds/" title="Feeds">Feeds</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/mobile/" title="Mobile">Mobile</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/advertise/" class="advertise">Advertise</a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20150707005144/https://www.texastribune.org/signup/" title="Newsletter Signup">Newsletter Signup</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://support.texastribune.org/" title="Donate" class="donate">Donate</a> </li> </ul> </div> </footer> </div> <div class="hide-for-medium-down"> <div class="ad adunit tablet standard" data-dimensions="1x1" data-adunit="TexasTribune_Content_StoryPage_Invisible_1x1"> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144js_/https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/COMPRESSED/js/38cc1e8308b2.js"></script> <script> tt.ads.addTarget("content", "story"); tt.ads.addTarget("slug", "school-finance-plan-gets-house-hearing"); tt.ads.addTarget("tribpedia", ["jimmie-don-aycock", "school-finance", "education", "texas-legislature", "84th-legislature"]); tt.ads.addTarget("sections", ["front-page/", "education/"]); try { tt.ads.addTarget("is_member", "no"); tt.ads.addTarget("logged_in", "no"); var tt = tt || {}; tt.username = ''; } catch(e) {} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> window._tpm = window._tpm || []; window._tpm['paywallID'] = '36783210'; window._tpm['trackPageview'] = true; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144js_/https://code.tinypass.com/tpl/d1/tpm.js"></script> <script> (function(){ function loadAddThis() { var addthis = document.createElement('script'); addthis.src = document.location.protocol+'//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-53beb39e1b9725fb&domready=1'; addthis.type = 'text/javascript'; addthis.async = true; var at = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; at.parentNode.insertBefore(addthis, at); } window.onload(loadAddThis()); })(); </script> <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="//web.archive.org/web/20150707005144js_/https://bit.ly/javascript-api.js?version=latest&login=texastribune&apiKey=R_6f6057d6b4eb2cded750a1bfde821d16"></script> <div id="parsely-root" style="display: none"> <div id="parsely-cfg" data-parsely-site="texastribune.org"></div> </div> <script> (function(s, p, d) { var h=d.location.protocol, i=p+"-"+s, e=d.getElementById(i), r=d.getElementById(p+"-root"), u=h==="https:"?"d1z2jf7jlzjs58.cloudfront.net" :"static."+p+".com"; if (e) return; e = d.createElement(s); e.id = i; e.async = true; e.src = h+"//"+u+"/p.js"; r.appendChild(e); })("script", "parsely", document); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> _qevents.push( { qacct:"p-f74d4O38hiiiM"} ); </script> <noscript> <div style="display: none;"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144im_/http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-f74d4O38hiiiM.gif" height="1" width="1" alt="Quantcast"/> </div> </noscript> <script type="text/javascript"> var _sf_async_config={}; /** CONFIGURATION START **/ _sf_async_config.uid = 14324; _sf_async_config.domain = 'texastribune.org'; if (window.tt && tt.currentPage) { if (tt.currentPage.sections) { _sf_async_config.sections = tt.currentPage.sections.join(','); } if (tt.currentPage.authors) { _sf_async_config.authors = tt.currentPage.authors.join(','); } else if (tt.currentPage.authorsText) { _sf_async_config.authors = tt.currentPage.authorsText; } } /** CONFIGURATION END **/ (function(){ function loadChartbeat() { window._sf_endpt=(new Date()).getTime(); var e = document.createElement('script'); e.setAttribute('language', 'javascript'); e.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript'); e.setAttribute('src', (('https:' == document.location.protocol) ? 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/https://a248.e.akamai.net/chartbeat.download.akamai.com/102508/' : 'https://web.archive.org/web/20150707005144/http://static.chartbeat.com/') + 'js/chartbeat.js'); document.body.appendChild(e); } var oldonload = window.onload; window.onload = (typeof window.onload != 'function') ? loadChartbeat : function() { oldonload(); loadChartbeat(); }; })(); </script> <script> (function() { jQuery.scrollDepth(); })(); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ (function(){try{var s,a,i,j,r,c,l=document.getElementsByTagName("a"),t=document.createElement("textarea");for(i=0;l.length-i;i++){try{a=l[i].getAttribute("href");if(a&&a.indexOf("/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection") > -1 && (a.length > 28)){s='';j=27+ 1 + a.indexOf("/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection");if (a.length > j) {r=parseInt(a.substr(j,2),16);for(j+=2;a.length>j&&a.substr(j,1)!='X';j+=2){c=parseInt(a.substr(j,2),16)^r;s+=String.fromCharCode(c);}j+=1;s+=a.substr(j,a.length-j);}t.innerHTML=s.replace(/</g,"<").replace(/>/g,">");l[i].setAttribute("href","mailto:"+t.value);}}catch(e){}}}catch(e){}})(); /* ]]> */ </script> </body> </html>