In preparation for the upcoming legislative session, state agencies are presenting their appropriations requests to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB). The requests are taken into consideration as the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees build the state’s budget for the next biennium. On Wednesday, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Permanent School Fund (PSF) Corporation presented their appropriations requests to the LBB. 

Texas Education Agency 

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath reported the agency’s request was consolidated to make it more concise but that it is almost the same as for the prior biennium except for a few items that will require attention and funding.  

The first exceptional item is for the agency. The commissioner explained that due to a decline in the number of people who want to become educators, educator certification fees are down. Those fees fund investigations of educator misconduct. Morath claimed the number of complaints against educators is up, so he believes the agency needs more state funding to expand its investigations team. In total, Morath wants $17.7 million for the biennium to investigate educators.  

The other exceptional items in the appropriations request would go to school districts. The commissioner explained that special education needs additional funding and strongly recommended modifying statutes and special education funding formulas based on the Texas Commission on Special Education Funding Report to the 88th Texas Legislature. He also said that based on the work of the Teacher Vacancy Task Force, teacher preparation programs need more funding. Morath again spoke about the decrease in the number of people pursuing education careers and said the state needs to properly invest in and offer support for people entering the profession so they will be better prepared. He also wants to retain teachers with strategic funding for teacher compensation (most likely through the Teacher Incentive Allotment) because the structure of pay raises is flat around the state and teachers don’t expect much more than a $500 raise per year. The commissioner simply included a placeholder of $1 for the funding amount for those categories, presumably to allow the legislators to figure that out. 

After the commissioner spoke about the agency’s requests, which included the Windham School District, Windham Superintendent Kristina Hartman and CFO Robert O’Banion spoke specifically about their program. The Windham School District provides educational services within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and operates on 87 campuses (some privately operated). Windham has reported great outcomes, especially with enabling their incarcerated students to participate in activities with their children (reading books, helping with homework, etc.). However, the district reports it is challenged with technology and connectivity. The district is focusing on developing trade skills so their students return to their communities prepared to work in the industries most in need of skilled labor. 

Public comments highlighted the need for additional funding for mental health support and resources to students in and out of school. Several people advocated for a dedicated mental health allotment similar to but separate from the school safety allotment. It was said districts should not have to choose between safety and mental health. Public commenters also brought up that behavioral support funding needs to be expanded so districts are better equipped and that the $1 place holder should have been at least $1.9 billion. This number came from adding the amount TEA said the state had provided districts to what districts reported had been spent. 

View the TEA 2026-2027 Legislative Appropriations Request.  

Permanent School Fund Corporation 

State Board of Education (SBOE) member Tom Maynard, along with Robert Borden, the new CEO/CIO of the PSF Corporation, presented the PSF appropriations request for the upcoming biennium. Maynard, who chairs the PSF Corporation, explained that fellow SBOE members serve on the PSF board and its committees. The PSF board comprises five members of the SBOE, the land commissioner, and one land commissioner appointee, along with two gubernatorial appointees (the last three must have substantial expertise in investments and asset management). The PSF board recently hired Borden to run the PSF’s day-to-day operations. The PSF board approves the fund’s asset allocation policy and performance benchmarks, evaluates investment performance, ensures compliance with asset allocation, and assesses risk, as well as works with PSF staff management to help set overall strategic direction. 

Borden told the LBB the PSF Corporation is the largest educational endowment in the country and that every dollar put into the PSF is a dollar that doesn’t have to come from taxpayers. Part of the PSF’s mission is to provide the backing of debt issuance to school districts, particularly smaller, rural districts that don’t have the best credit rating. Per the appropriations request: “The 2026-27 requested appropriations, budget structure, fulltime equivalent positions (FTEs), and riders are designed to provide Texas PSF the necessary resources and flexibility to fulfill its fiduciary duty while providing oversight and transparency to the Legislature and Governor. The funding would support the management and investment of the approximately $56.9 billion in Texas PSF assets, as well as the Corporation’s investment support and administrative functions, including risk management, legal, finance, human resources, compliance and other operational activities.” Borden reported that PSF is asking for an increase to allow for training and to improve compensation for employees, technology efficiency, and office space, etc., and that the funding requested is all allocated based on the new PSF strategic plan. 

View the PSF 2026-2027 Legislative Appropriations Request.