When it comes to funding public schools and education for Texas students, the state falls below the national average by more than $4,000 per student. Texas ranks 42nd in the nation in per-student spending.
Source: Raise Your Hand Texas
Texas Public School Finance 101
As a school district, we believe in teaching everyone, not just our students. This resource is here to help you learn about how Texas public schools are funded. Throughout this resource, you can find simple explanations and facts to help you understand how public school funding works.
Texas Public School Funding
Texas is the second largest public school system in the country, serving 5.5 million students across more than 1,200 school districts and charter schools. The Texas Legislature determines how much funding public schools receive. Public schools are funded by three main sources:
Local Funding
State Funding
Federal Funding
How is China Spring ISD funded?
At China Spring ISD 31.2% of funding comes from local property taxes, 68.4% of funding comes from state funding, and .004% comes from federal funding.
The Texas Legislature determines how much funding public schools receive and the total funding amount does not change. If property taxes increase, the local funding source increases for public schools. However, state funding decreases to accommodate for increases in local funding.
Additional Funding
School districts receive extra funds for students that require special services, such as:
Gifted and talented services
Early childhood education
Career and technical education (CTE) programs
With additional funding, there is a range to the per student funding amount among public schools in central Texas. Schools in our area receive anywhere from $19,535 per student to $10,383 per student. China Spring ISD receives roughly $10,407 per student.
Attendance Matters
School districts receive funding based on the average daily attendance of students. China Spring ISD misses roughly $65.00 of funding, per student, when a student misses school.
Consider how this amount of missed funding grows over time. If each campus at China Spring ISD experiences 20 absent students, this equals 100 absent students from the district every day. 100 absent students x $65.00 = $6,500 of missed funding/day.
There are 160 day in the school year. 160 school days x $6,500 of missed funding/day = Over $1 million of missed funding for the year.
External Factors Impacting China Spring ISD Funding
China Spring ISD is committed to being a responsible steward of public funds. Our district carefully considers how each dollar is used and works to prioritize resources that directly support student learning.
School funding is regularly impacted by factors beyond a district's direct control. Changes in student enrollment, rising costs due to inflation, unfunded state-mandated requirements can all affect public school budgets. Each of these factors affects districts differently, but their combined impact can be significant.
Student Enrollment
Texas public schools are experiencing an overall decline in enrollment. In 2025-26, public school enrollment was reported to be approximately 76,000 students below projections. For 2026-27, enrollment is projected to be another 100,000 students lower than expected.
Factors contributing this statewide trend include:
Declining birth rates
Changes to immigration
Growth in private school and homeschool enrollment
China Spring ISD is not exempt from this trend. Although our attendance rate remains strong compared with many districts across Texas, having fewer students overall means less funding coming into the district.
Inflation & Rising Costs
The basic allotment for Texas students, $6,215 per student , has only increased by $55 since 2019.
Inflation in the state of Texas has increased by 23% between January 2019 to January 2024.*
You have probably experienced inflation impacting your household budget at the overall cost of living increases because of the rise in costs for food, housing, and utilities.
Public schools experience the same increase in cost of supplies.
Property insurance for our buildings now costs more than $750,000 a year—more than double what it cost five years ago.
In 2021, buying a new school bus cost the district $98,000. Today, that same bus costs $135,000.
Even the cost of classroom tools is rising. One of our most-used learning programs, IXL, now costs the district over $12,000 more each year than it did just two years ago.
These rising costs affect everything we do—from keeping students safe, to getting them to school, to making sure they have the tools they need to learn
While the state recently increased the basic allotment by $55 per student, this small adjustment doesn't keep up with inflation or the growing needs of our schools. Since 2019, inflation has increased by more than 25%, while school operating costs in Texas have risen by at least 14–19%. Experts estimate schools would need about a $1,100 increase per student just to break even. As a result, China Spring ISD is working hard to stretch every dollar to maintain the level of educational excellence our community expects.
Hold Harmless Funding
Texas public schools receive funding from both local property taxes and the state. Changes to the state's property tax system can therefore affect school district funding. During the November 2025 election, Texas voters approved an increase to the state's homestead exemption. This change reduced the amount of property taxes paid by many homeowners. While lower property taxes can provide meaningful relief for homeowners, they also reduce the amount of local funding for school districts.
The state uses a mechanism known as hold harmless funding to help offset some of the revenue lost through state-mandated property tax compression. The concept is straightforward: when state policy reduces the amount of local funding available to a school district, additional state funding is intended to help replace that lost revenue. However, the amount appropriated by the state did not fully replace the revenue lost by every district.
Why this matters to China Spring ISD.
China Spring ISD has a unique local tax base. Approximately 95% of the district's property is residential, meaning the district has a relatively small commercial tax base compared with communities with significant commercial or industrial property. For the 2026-27 school year, China Spring ISD is projected to lose approximately $879,035 in funding as a result of property tax compression and increased homestead exemptions.
The state budgeted $500 million in hold harmless funding for public schools across the state. However, that amount was not enough to fully replace the revenue lost by all affected districts.
Unfunded Mandates and the Cost of Compliance
Public school districts operate within a complex framework of state laws, regulations and requirements. These requirements are intended to address important areas such as instruction, student services, safety and accountability. However, new requirements do not always come with enough additional funding to cover the cost of implementation. These requirements are commonly referred to as unfunded mandates.
The Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) and Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) have compiled a report on school district mandates that contribute to the rising cost of public education. Since 1995, TASB identified at least 132 mandates affecting school district budgets. While this report is not an exhaustive list of all mandates, it attempts to illustrate the range of responsibilities districts are expected to fulfill.
How does this impact China Spring ISD?
The state of Texas requires school districts to hire an armed police officer for every campus within a district. China Spring ISD employs five police officers, with each officer assigned to a specific campus.
For the 2026-27 school year, China Spring ISD is projected to receive approximately $260, 236 in state funding for safety and security.
Expenditures for safety include police officer salaries, equipment, vehicles, training and more. The district's projected expenditures for its police department are approximately $420,586.
This creates a funding gap of approximately $160,350 that must be supported through other district resources.