ODESSA, Texas — State Representative Gina Hinojosa has filed a new education bill that will change how schools are funded in the state of Texas.
House bill 12-46 will make school funding based off of enrollment, not attendance.
Hinojosa says that times have changed during the pandemic and that many kids now are learning online. She says this is an issue of equity.
Most schools are having problems with attendance where there is a greater concentration of poverty.
Critics of the bill feel that removing the funding based on attendance will hurt the incentive for kids to be in the classroom.
"Any proposal that could help public school students, families, teachers, and administrators better weather the COVID-19 pandemic is worthy of discussion this session," says State Representative Brooks Landgraf. "We must act with caution, however, as our first and foremost focus must be to avoid making this worse than they already are. I will thoughtfully consider this bill if it makes it to the house floor for a vote, but I need to check with our local superintendents before coming to a decision because even the best ideas can have unintended consequences."