Texas
Texas school districts all struggling with lack of state funding
Looking at statewide school funding
It’s not just Central Texas schools struggling with budget deficits. Districts all across the state are dealing with different versions of the same problem: a lack of funding from the state. 7 On Your Side reporter John Krinjak has a look at the impact.
AUSTIN, Texas – Over the past month, 7 On Your Side has been spotlighting local districts that have been grappling with budget deficits. But it’s not just Central Texas schools that are struggling.
Districts all across the state say they are dealing with different versions of the same problem: a lack of funding from the state.
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Austin ISD operates in budget deficit
What they’re saying:
District leaders across Texas are anxiously awaiting action from the state legislature when it comes to public school funding.
“A lot of districts have cut through a lot of the fat, and they’re getting to the bone,” said Dax Gonzalez of the Texas Association of School Boards.
Austin ISD is currently operating with a $92 million deficit. The school board is finalizing plans to make that much in cuts over three years.
“There are likely going to be cuts to things that we love. And that’s part of the hard decision-making that we have to make because the state is choosing not to fully fund public education,” said Austin ISD Board President Arati Singh.
School districts talk about legislature funding
A lot of school districts are hoping to see lawmakers take action to increase school funding. Last week, 7 On Your Side looked at the impact of that situation at Austin ISD. Now, John Krinjak takes a look at two more districts dealing with the lack of state funding
Other Texas school districts are struggling
What they’re saying:
But Austin ISD is far from alone, with district after district across Texas passing deficit budgets and making major cuts.
“We’re talking about things like closing campuses, reducing staff. That’s instructional staff as well, things like cutting bus routes, the things that families have really come to rely on. One year they’re going to start the school year and those services may not be there,” said Dax Gonzales of the Texas Association of School Boards.
Dallas ISD is currently dealing with a $152 million deficit. That’s about $35 million less than the original $186 million shortfall for this year. But painful cuts were made. Among them, the elimination of hundreds of positions—including cutting 55 assistant principal jobs.
Nearby, in Coppell ISD, the board of trustees recently voted to close Pinkerton Elementary.
“Why are we in this financial dire situation for education? Shouldn’t we be prioritizing education?” said Coppell ISD parent Josh McCrary.
Gonzalez says the answer to that question largely has to do with the legislature failing to raise the basic allotment, the per-student amount each district receives from the state, in six years.
“They’re trying to figure out how to provide the same services with the same funding basically that they’ve received since 2019. And inflation, just like with everyone else, has taken a large cut out of what those districts can provide,” said Gonzalez.
Del Valle Superintendent on budget deficit, state funding
Local school districts are dealing with mounting budget deficits. District leaders are largely laying the blame at the feet of state legislators who have not raised the so-called basic allotment in six years. That’s the per-student amount each district gets in state funding.
Houston ISD is facing the largest deficit of all this year, about $250 million. That’s double the original projected shortfall, after Superintendent Mike Miles said the district would dip into savings to cover things like building maintenance and classroom instruction.
All this comes after Houston ISD made major cuts last year.
“And because we did so many cuts last year, we won’t have to repeat that. We might have to cut a little bit,” said Miles at a December 10 school board meeting.
School board leaders, though, expressed concern at that meeting.
“I want to make sure that what we’re doing right now is not putting us in a bad position for next year,” said Houston ISD Board President Audrey Momanee.
Miles predicts a smaller deficit for next year, but the exact size of the shortfall could have a lot to do with whether lawmakers raise the basic allotment.
“I’m not promising anything until we see the real numbers from the state.”
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s John Krinjak
Texas
‘It just hurts’: Texas lawmaker speaks out after meeting with detained men who witnessed deadly ICE shooting | CNN
Saturday, July 11, 2026 11:10PM
This Week in Texas, we talk about the fatal shooting in Houston involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Our political insiders, Jacey Jetton and Shea Jordan Smith, offer their perspectives on that and the proposal from Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Gina Hinojosa to give every Texas household $1500 from the state’s rainy day fund.
Also, a report on big drainage money that the City of Galveston might have let slip through the cracks.
And a look at the intersection of politics and sports, This Week in Texas.
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A man in Texas, suspicious about his newly acquired truck, decided to take a look inside. To his surprise, he found a GPS tracker that was monitoring his every move. As expected, people online reacted as they normally do: a collective meltdown.
The man in question is none other than David Allen, also known as ToTouchAnEmu. He is a very popular content creator who has over 9.8 million followers on TikTok alone.
And while he shares a wide variety of content, one of his latest videos addresses this apparent breach of privacy. He detailed how he was surprised and overwhelmed as he went through the terms and conditions after purchasing his new truck.
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His dealer had signed him up and paid for a one-year subscription to CarRx, a platform and mobile app that monitors vehicles’ data. David, however, was not too thrilled to find out exactly what that meant.
Tracking Everything
For starters, he showed that, under the terms and conditions, CarRx would sell all collected information to third parties. David was not too worried about that.
Instead, he showed all the data that the platform collects from vehicles. Understandably, he was shocked.
Monitored information includes the car’s VIN, mileage, oil and battery status, fuel, and charging history. The platform can also track a vehicle’s location, speed, crash detection alerts, braking events, and even camera image and sensor data.
Finding the Tracker
David, still astounded by the revelation, knew that something was fishy. He asked, “I start thinking, how do they know all that information about my car if they don’t have some sort of GPS tracker on it?”
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And to no one’s surprise, and thanks to a Google search, it turns out that there was, in fact, a tracker installed in David’s truck. And not willing to let it slide, the man got to work immediately.
The Texas man searched for the tracker near the OBD port. He noticed a Y-cable right below it and found the tracker connected to it. The tracker had an IMEI, meaning that it had a SIM card in it, so tracking is pretty much a guarantee.
Viewers React Accordingly
Of course, David’s video caused a multitude of reactions. Some took issue with how he labeled his SUV a truck, but most viewers were worried about their privacy.
“We need data privacy laws stat!” one said. Another one commented, “This isn’t new, unfortunately. I used to work for GM; they track everything. In real time.”
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The latter comment seemed to echo the majority of reactions. Other users, former car dealership employees themselves, said the exact same thing.
If you want more stories like this, follow Guessing Headlights on Yahoo so you don’t miss what’s coming next.
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