Who’s Profiting from Taxpayer Spending on Education?
By Jorge Borrego
AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) — Governor Greg Abbott recently sent a message to the 39 Texas Democrat Legislators who were requesting a "Special Session" in Austin to address what they referred to as education “budget shortfalls.”
“To be clear, there are several reasons why some public schools are facing budget shortfalls,” Gov. Abbott told the Democrats – citing the end of one-time COVID-related federal funding, and decreasing enrollment as significant contributors.
And, he added:
And, he added:“Also to be clear, you make reference to the basic allotment. That is simply misleading.
"While the basic allotment is $6,160, the Average Funding per student actually exceeds $12,000.”
"While the basic allotment is $6,160, the Average Funding per student actually exceeds $12,000.”
That adds up to more than $92.4 billion spent on public education in Texas during the last school year, from all sources.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation has previously highlighted this issue regarding Dallas area schools, pointing out they’re not actually broke. Instead, they are misspending your tax dollars.
A better question the Democrats might ask is:
If teachers and students are not benefiting from all that spending, then who is?
Here’s One Example
In the 2022 to 2023 school year, Fort Worth ISD reported spending a combined total of $10,197,289.95 on consultants, legal expenses, vendors, and lobbyists.
Of that amount, $7.4 million was spent on consultants alone, with nearly all of it being spent on just three consulting firms.
- The largest profiteer of Fort Worth ISD was the Boston Consulting Group ($3,295,000) an East Coast firm that prides itself on their commitment to DEI.
- They were followed by Cenergistic LLC ($2,264,773), a consulting firm that focuses on green initiatives, and
- Big Thought ($525,000), a nonprofit that specializes in equity and social and emotional learning (SEL).
But these are not the only private profiteers of your tax dollars.Other profiteers include groups such as:
- Taxpayer-Funded firms Texas Association of School Boards, INC ($36,159) and
- the Texas Association of School Administrators ($23,618);
- Private Law firms such as O’Halon, Demerath, & Castillo ($209,501),
- Walsh, Gallegos, & Trevino ($79,928) and
- Escamilla & Poneck ($30,000);
- as well as many others, including
- the J.O. Agency ($226,159.56) and
- Empower Schools INC ($140,000).
Indeed, the district paid five vendors over $1.2 million. These vendors were:
- Experience Management Institute ($299,999.99)
- HKS Inc ($281,500)
- Thompson & Horton LLP ($236,974.92)
- EMA Engineering & Consulting ($232,600), and
- Public Consulting Group LLC ($198,000).
Texas Schools are running large deficits and superintendents are unwilling to take responsibility for their district’s fiscal mismanagement. Private vendors are certainly profiting handsomely from your tax dollars – while our students and teachers are continually told “there’s a not enough money.”
The truth is, there is enough money to invest in our kids – if we’d stop wasting it on the latest “consultant” or “lobbyist” promising a quick fix to our education "problems."
Jorge Borrego is the K-12 Education Policy Director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Next Generation Texas Initiative. Prior to joining the Foundation, Borrego worked in the Texas House of Representatives, and for the Down Syndrome Association of Brazos Valley.
