Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath laid out the request during a Sept. 29 hearing on the agency's legislative appropriations request. He described the TEA as "largely a pass-through vehicle to fund schools around the state of Texas."
The funding falls under Article III of the state budget, with most of it flowing straight to school districts statewide, not to TEA staff or operations. Only a portion covers the agency's own payroll and the costs of running its associated programs.
For school districts across Texas, the size of this request matters more than the agency's internal budget line. A jump of roughly $6 billion between budget cycles signals how much the state expects to spend keeping classrooms staffed and running through 2029.
Lawmakers still have to weigh in before any of that $97.3 billion actually reaches a classroom.