An issue brief from the Legislative Budget Board (LBB) staff providing an overview of the Foundation School Program (FSP) was published. The FSP is the primary means of distributing state aid to Texas public schools. FSP entitlement for Texas public schools is funded through a combination of state aid and local property tax revenue and totals approximately $90.0 billion for the 2016–17 biennium. All Funds appropriations to the FSP for the 2016–17 biennium are $42.3 billion consisting of $40.9 billion for ongoing operations and $1.4 billion for debt service obligations for school facilities. The Foundation School Program is the largest single appropriation of state general revenue funds in the budget. Debt service equalization through Instructional Facilities Allotment (IFA) and Existing Debt Allotment (EDA) accounts for 9.3 percent of FSP entitlement for the 2016–17 biennium.
