(AUSTIN, TX, May 17, 2023) — The Texas School Coalition released the following statement Wednesday regarding the upcoming consideration of Senate Bill 3 and the ongoing conversation over legislative efforts to provide property-tax relief:
“As the Texas House prepares to vote on the SB 3 property-tax legislation, it is important to emphasize what this bill will and will not mean for public education. Educators support property-tax relief because we have seen the burden put on local taxpayers by stagnant state funding. Property-tax relief is especially important for school districts that have local revenue taken out of their communities through recapture. However, dollars spent on property-tax relief are not investments in public education. Those dollars do not reach classrooms and they do not give schools more money to pay teachers and meet other needs. It would be disingenuous for any legislator to claim that a vote for property-tax relief is a vote to increase funding for Texas classrooms. Property-tax relief is good, but it does not provide the net increase in resources that Texas public schools severely need. We urge legislators to make a real, tangible investment in Texas students before this session ends.”
—Christy Rome, Executive Director of the Texas School Coalition
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