The 74

Texas school leaders are hopeful that a pair of bills making their way through the state legislature could help to close an estimated $1.7 billion special education funding gap and better equip schools to handle a dramatic rise in the number of children with disabilities in need of services. The measures are intended to address several longstanding issues that have plagued the state’s special education system. Since the 2015-16 school year, the number of students receiving services has increased by 67%, rising from 463,000 to 775,000. Funding has not increased proportionally, meaning schools must divert ever-increasing amounts of their overall budgets to make up the shortfall. Between the 2015-16 and 2023-24 school years, spending on special education increased from $5.6 billion to $9.1 billion.