COMAL ISD outlines uncertain effects of recent state education bills and funding on district budgets and pay

Dr. John Chapman, superintendent of COMAL ISD, told teachers at the district’s Comal U opening ceremony that recent actions in the state legislature include both large new funding and measures that will create uncertainty for local implementation.

Chapman said the session produced “over 1,500 bills that affect public education” but that “we only had a little over a hundred bills that became law this year.” He warned that a voucher program slated to start in the 2026–27 school year will divert “a billion dollars leaving public education every year” and estimated that, over the next biennium, that proposal could cost public education about $4,200,000,000.

Why it matters: Chapman said the state also approved what he called “the greatest funding mechanism in Texas school history” — about $8,500,000,000 for public education — but stressed that the…