Abbott to sign $8.5 billion school funding bill

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Gov. Greg Abbott will sign a landmark school funding package Wednesday in Salado.

The $8.5 billion bill, known as House Bill 2, creates new buckets of money for public schools to spend on specific initiatives. This includes $1.3 billion for an Allotment for Basic Costs — to fund insurance premiums and teacher retirement pensions — $4.2 billion for teacher pay raises, over $2.2 billion for special education, childcare and school safety and more than $800 million for rural school districts.

While the bill marks one of the largest increases to education funding in state history, some school leaders say they would have preferred a larger increase to the basic allotment, the amount of funding schools receive per student.

The new funds for schools are designated for specific i