The Texas House Approves School Budget Cuts

This morning, after 16 hours of debate, the Texas House approved cutting $4 billion from Texas public schools.  The bill passed 81-62 and will now go to a conference committee where senators and representatives will work on a final version.  The proposed law would spread the $4 billion in cuts over 2 years.  More than 80 percent of the cuts will be personnel related.  In preparation for the bill, school districts have already started laying off thousands of teachers.  This, unfortunately, will result in larger class sizes.  It also means that some special programs will not be funded.  It's up to the school districts which programs to cut.