How Public Schools are Funded

What You Need to Know About

School Accountibility

North East ISD hosted a community meeting on Dec. 12, 2023 to discuss recent changes to the state accountability system and how it affects our students. District leaders welcomed community members, parents and volunteers for the open discussion.

North East ISD wants to prepare students and parents for the signficant changes made to the state's accountability system.

At this meeting, District experts broke down the many factors at play in the state’s accountability system to provide the community with a clear picture of the situation before results are released. There have been several substantial changes made to the STAAR test and the way TEA calculates our ratings, also referred to as A through F letter grades.

In addition to hearing from the District, community members submitted questions before and during the meeting. These questions and answers will be posted on this page, so check back for updates.

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What You Need to Know About

School Finance

North East ISD wants to prepare students for success in and out of school. And as a public school district, we have many components and processes that contribute to this goal. Students need to get fed, staff need to get compensated, buildings need to be maintained, support services need to be provided, supplies need to be purchased. The list goes on and on.

A school district budget can certainly be difficult to understand and even more challenging to describe. School districts are funded through a combination of state, federal and local dollars. And it is common for many myths and misconceptions to be circulated about how and why school districts spend their money.

In addition to hearing from District finance experts, community members had the opportunity to submit questions before and during the meeting. These questions and answers will be posted on this page, so check back for updates.

12.12.23 - School Accountability Questions (click here to open)

Do charter schools and private schools follow the same accountability evaluation? How about home school students?

Considering the changes in the STAAR and TEA specifications, what support is the state/city/district providing to the schools to complete these new requirements? How parents can help school administration and teachers fulfill any new duties? What students can expect from their teachers when working on these new accountability methods?

4.25.23 - School Finance Meeting Questions (click here to open)

Since you mentioned teacher’s benefits, is it possible for the District to opt-in to social security?

As an educational entity we are already part of a pension plan called the Teacher Retirement System, where each employee contributes 8% of their paycheck. Most employees would likely not want to have an additional 6.2% taken out of their earnings for Social Security.

Is the $6,000 per student the size of the cup in the demo or the amount of blue liquid?

The $6,160 establishes the size of the cup. (See video of cup demonstration.)

How would vouchers affect the property tax and state pieces of funding?

Most of the voucher bills wouldn’t change the current relationship between property tax and state funding. In the filed state budget bill, vouchers were funded outside of the public school funding system. However, the long-term impact of the state providing funds for vouchers cannot be determined at this time.

How does students moving to charter schools affect funding?

Any time students are not in attendance – whether through absences or because they leave for charters – the District loses funding. A student attending every day in a non-specialized setting is funded $6,160.

Does the size of the cup differ by district?

Districts have different funding levels based upon enrollment, attendance, and number of students in specialized settings, but all public school districts are funded with the same formulas. Some schools will also have adopted more enrichment pennies than others which will drive additional funding.

When a school loses funding, where does that money go if the taxpayers are still having to pay?

Is it allocated to another school? If a district receives less funding, the state will have less they have to contribute. This savings goes into the state’s budget.

Who assigns/authorizes budget for school’s safety/security?

Ultimately, the school board adopts the District’s budget.

If I have a proposal regarding school security that includes cost related expenses, where should I address it? Example: bullet proof windows. You may email the superintendent and the school board at smaika@neisd.net or board@neisd.net