Like many Texas superintendents, William Walker spent part of last week in Austin, petitioning state lawmakers for increased education funding. Then he turned around and headed to Washington, where the budget gridlock between U.S. House Republicans and the White House threatens to leave some of the state’s schools without millions in federal aid they’re due for the current school year.
Walker is the superintendent of San Antonio’s Randolph Field Independent School District, one of three in the state — all in San Antonio — located entirely within the borders of a military base. Unlike most school districts, which on average receive about 10 percent of their funding from the federal government, Randolph relies on federal “Impact Aid” money for half of its revenue.
Congress established the Impact Aid program during the Truman era to compensate school districts that contain military bases, national parks and Indian reservations, which don’t pay property taxes, and therefore don’t provide revenue for schools.
Unlike most federal education money, it’s not forward funded. Because the school year is often well underway without districts knowing when, or how much, they will receive in federal funding — the program hasn’t been fully funded since 1960 — schools must make an educated guess when they budget for the upcoming year.
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