However, the majority of these funds are designated for specific uses outlined by the state, which means only a small portion is available to address the district's broader needs.
Exploring the New Texas School Funding Bill and What it Means for CSISD
In June 2025, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2, which Governor Abbott signed into law with the promise of delivering $8.5 billion in new funding for public education over the next two years.
At first glance, the investment seems monumental. But as the funding is divided among more than 1,200 school districts and charter schools and spread across 5.3 million public school students, the reality for most districts looks very different.
House Bill 2 provided China Spring ISD with approximately $2.48 million in new funding for the 2025-26 school year.
Funding Breakdown
Allotment Amount | State Mandated Spending | |
$1,374,000 | Teacher Retention Allotment | The largest portion of the new funding is required to be used specifically for raises for classroom teachers with more than two years of experience. However, this does not account for nearly half of our employees, those who serve as, nurses, counselors, aides, librarians, bus drivers, and others. |
$120,000 | Support Staff Retention Allotment | CSISD received just $120,00 in support staff retention funds to cover raises for 225 employees in these roles. That's nearly 50% of our entire staff, and the state funding falls short by more than $250,000 in covering competitive raises for these essential positions. |
$139,958 | Safety Allotment | The school safety allotment supplements the $103,420 CSISD receives annually for security needs. The total funding received for safety does not completely cover the salaries of five school police officers, necessary equipment, training and vehicles. |
$316,516 | Allotment for Basic Costs Increase | Additional state-directed funds to cover basic operating expenses like health insurance and retirement contributions, both of which are impacted by the new teacher raises. |
$343,685 | Special Education Allotment | State-directed funds spent specifically on services and support for students with disabilities. |
$156,310 | Basic Allotment Increase | The basic allotment, the primary per-student funding amount, was increased by $55 per student, resulting in $156,310 in new revenue for CSISD. |
Once the state mandated spending is subtracted from the $2.48 million total, CSISD is left with approximately $188,841 in new funding to support competitive staff pay, new opportunities for students, and district operations.
The Legislature’s investment in public education through House Bill 2 was a significant step in the right direction, and we are deeply appreciative of the teacher raises it provides. But it did not give school districts like CSISD the local control or flexible funding needed to support all employees, cover rising operational costs, and maintain the high-quality services our students and families expect. To meet those needs, we must consider additional solutions—one of which may be a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) to generate locally controlled funding.