House and Senate lawmakers are poised to announce a deal on an $8.5 billion funding package for Texas public schools that would preserve the upper chamber's push for a modest $55 per–student increase to districts' base funding, while giving schools more than $1 billion to pay for fixed costs like utilities and transportation. The deal, confirmed by three lawmakers familiar with the discussions, appears to strike a face-saving compromise for both chambers, which had been divided by the House's bid to give schools a bigger increase in base per-student funding and the Senate's desire to more narrowly prioritize teacher pay raises.
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Michael Spurlin
ATPE
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