Abbott Orders Review of Texas School Spending as Districts Question Need for Another Layer of Oversight
Texas public school finances are coming under renewed scrutiny after Gov. Greg Abbott directed Texas Comptroller Don Huffines to conduct detailed reviews of selected school districts across the state. The move comes as some Texas school leaders question whether another state review is necessary when districts already undergo annual independent financial audits and participate in the state’s financial accountability system.
Abbott sent a letter to Huffines on Wednesday, Aug. 19, asking the Comptroller’s Office to investigate the spending practices of up to four independent school districts of different sizes and from different parts of Texas. Abbott said the goal is to determine whether taxpayer dollars are being spent for their lawful and intended purposes and whether enough money is reaching students, classrooms and teachers.
“As Texas continues to make crucial investments in public education, it is our collective responsibility to ensure that taxpayer dollars directly reach students, classrooms, and teachers,” Abbott wrote in his letter. He expressed concern about money potentially being absorbed by central-office growth, administration, consultants and other noninstructional expenses.
Abbott pointed to what he described as $104.9 billion in K-12 education spending and said the 89th Legislature made historic investments in public education, including increases in teacher pay. The governor said additional funding should also bring additional scrutiny over how those dollars are spent.
Under Abbott’s request, the Comptroller will select up to four districts for examination. Districts governed by state-appointed boards are excluded from the review. Abbott has asked for a final report by Dec. 31, 2026, allowing lawmakers to consider possible changes during the upcoming 90th Texas Legislature.
Huffines quickly announced that his office would move forward with what is being called the “Huffines Performance Review.”
“Texans must have confidence that their school tax dollars support educational opportunities for students, not layers of bureaucracy in central administrative offices,” Huffines said. The comptroller said his office would identify wasteful or inappropriate spending if it is discovered and report those findings to lawmakers and the public.
The districts that will undergo the review have not yet been announced.
Texas Schools Already Face Financial Accountability Requirements
The announcement raises another question for school districts: How different will the Comptroller’s review be from the financial oversight already required under state law?
Texas school districts already undergo annual financial audits, and the Texas Education Agency operates the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas, commonly known as School FIRST.
School FIRST was established by the Legislature to hold public schools accountable for the quality of their financial management practices. According to TEA, the system is specifically designed to encourage districts to manage their resources so that the maximum amount possible is available for direct instructional purposes.
The state’s FIRST rating is not itself an independent audit. Instead, TEA calculates the rating using financial information reported by districts, including their annual financial reports, along with findings from the independent external audits districts are required to obtain. Among the items considered are administrative costs, accuracy of financial information, financial condition and any material weaknesses in internal controls identified by an external auditor.
For the 2024-25 FIRST ratings, which were based on fiscal year 2024 financial information, TEA used 21 financial indicators. Districts received one of four ratings: A-Superior Achievement, B-Above Standard Achievement, C-Meets Standard Achievement or F-Substandard Achievement.
Statewide, 81 percent of school systems earned an A-Superior Achievement rating for the 2024-25 rating year.
Terry County Districts’ FIRST Ratings
The three Terry County school districts also have FIRST ratings available through TEA.
For the 2024 FIRST rating identified in TEA records, Brownfield ISD received a C-Meets Standard Achievement rating. Despite the lower rating that year, the district remained accredited by the state.
Meadow ISD received an A-Superior Achievement rating for the same reporting period, the highest rating available through the School FIRST system.
Wellman-Union CISD also received an A-Superior Achievement rating for the 2024 FIRST reporting period and remained accredited.
More recent TEA records show improvement for Brownfield ISD. The state’s 2025-26 accreditation information lists Brownfield with an A-Superior Achievement FIRST rating for the latest year reflected in that report.
Meadow ISD also publicly announced in October 2025 that it had earned an A-Superior Achievement rating for the 2024-25 School FIRST cycle. Former Meadow Superintendent Bric Turner said at the time that the rating reflected the district’s commitment to using taxpayer dollars responsibly.
Those existing accountability measures are part of the reason some school administrators are questioning the need for a separate Comptroller review.
Brownfield Superintendent Questions Additional Review
Brownfield ISD Superintendent Chris Smith said school districts have already operated under extensive financial oversight for years.
“School Districts have long been audited on a yearly basis by external and highly trained auditors,” Smith said. “It seems pretty politically motivated and quite frankly a waste of additional taxpayer dollars to spend time doing the same thing licensed external auditors are already paid to do.”
Smith’s comments highlight what could become one of the central disagreements surrounding the governor’s initiative.
Abbott and Huffines say the review is intended to go deeper into how districts spend taxpayer money and whether administrative and noninstructional expenses are taking money away from classrooms. School officials may argue that Texas already has an extensive framework requiring annual audits, public financial reporting and financial accountability ratings.
Wellman-Union ISD Superintendent Nate Wheeler also said he would support a review of administrative spending but argued the discussion is incomplete without acknowledging state mandates placed on districts.
Wheeler said districts are being asked to comply with a growing number of state requirements — including reporting, safety, discipline, special education, data systems and other administrative duties — while also operating under constrained local revenue growth. He said those mandates require additional staff and administrative work, leaving districts “being asked to do more with less.”
He added that every hour administrators spend on state reporting or compliance is time not spent directly supporting students and teachers, and said any discussion of “administrative bloat” should also account for how much new workload has been created by state law and TEA requirements over the past several legislative sessions.
Whether the Comptroller’s performance review uncovers issues not captured through those existing systems will likely determine how lawmakers view the program when the findings are released.
School Funding Debate Goes Beyond Spending
The review also comes as Texas faces a broader debate about how schools are funded in the first place.
Midland ISD filed a lawsuit in July challenging major parts of the Texas school finance system, including the state’s recapture system, commonly called “Robin Hood.” Under recapture, districts with high taxable property wealth are required to send portions of locally collected property tax revenue back to the state for redistribution through the school finance system.
Midland ISD trustees voted unanimously to pursue the lawsuit. District leaders argue that changes to Texas school finance laws have taken too much control over local tax rates away from elected school boards and placed it in the hands of the state. The lawsuit contends that the system has effectively become an unconstitutional statewide property tax.
Midland ISD expects to send more than $83 million to the state through recapture for the 2025-26 school year, representing roughly 27 percent of the approximately $313 million generated locally. District officials have said Midland has sent more than $1 billion through recapture since 2013.
Midland officials argue that being considered property wealthy does not necessarily mean a district has wealthy students. More than half of Midland ISD students are considered economically disadvantaged, according to reporting surrounding the lawsuit. The district argues that the current formula does not adequately account for the cost of hiring teachers and operating schools in communities such as Midland.
Recapture has survived previous challenges before the Texas Supreme Court, including a major 2016 school finance case. However, the court said at the time that the state’s school finance system remained deeply imperfect even though it met minimum constitutional requirements.
Two Different Questions About Texas Education
The developments illustrate two different questions being asked about public education in Texas.
Abbott and Huffines are asking whether school districts are spending taxpayer dollars efficiently and whether too much money is being directed toward administration instead of classrooms.
District leaders such as those in Midland are asking whether the state’s funding system itself gives local schools adequate resources and enough control over the tax dollars generated in their communities.
Meanwhile, school officials such as Brownfield ISD Superintendent Chris Smith are pointing to a third issue: whether the state needs to create another review process when districts already undergo independent annual audits and are graded through TEA’s School FIRST accountability system.
The Comptroller’s review could provide lawmakers with more information when they return to Austin for the 90th Legislature. But until the four districts are selected and the scope of the examinations becomes clearer, the debate will likely continue over whether Texas has uncovered a financial accountability problem in its public schools — or whether it is adding another layer of government oversight to a system that is already heavily audited and regulated.
Huffines is expected to announce the districts selected for review in the coming weeks, with Abbott requesting the final findings no later than Dec. 31.
