Verification
Every major figure is cited below.
Press summaries are used when they quote district letters or board action. They are not a substitute for the AISD or TEA table when that table exists.
Austin ISD finance
| Claim on this site | Source |
|---|---|
| FY2025–26 adopted recapture $715,523,373; enrollment 72,303; ~half of $1.70B adopted expenditures; $8.3B cumulative FY2000–01–FY2024–25; $467.8M above second-place district in FY2023–24 | AISD 2026 Budget Process |
| FY2014–15 recapture $181,118,956 at 84,191 students; “nearly 400 percent” language; FY2024–25 adopted $821,055,366; ~52% of local tax revenue subject to recapture; 46.3% of the adopted general-fund expenditure dollar was the recapture payment | AISD Recapture |
| FY2025 Chapter 49 expense $771.60 million (year ended June 30, 2025) | AISD 2025 ACFR (BoardDocs attachment) |
| Superintendent base $362,250; supplemental retirement $36,750; §3.3 reimburses travel (airfare, hotel, meals, rental car). No car allowance or vehicle lease in the 2024 contract or the 2026 extension redline. 2024 §3.14: $25,000 when TEA lifts agreed-order sanctions (Statesman July 2026: paid). 2026 §3.14: $1,500 per D/F campus that later prints at least a C; first cycle ratings Dec. 2026; board may still decide if statewide ratings are not released. | 2024 contract PDF · 2026 extension redline · KXAN, June 11, 2026 · Statesman, July 13, 2026 |
| Consolidations, student counts, receiving campuses | AISD consolidations |
State formula and inflation
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| Basic allotment $6,160 + GYIA $55 = $6,215 for 2025–27 | TEA HB 2 implementation letter · Education Code §§ 48.051, 48.2561 |
| Inflation-adjusted 2019 allotment ≈ $7,756 in 2025 ($1,596 gap) | Every Texan, Pinching Pennies (May 2026 PDF) |
| CPI comparison putting 2019 $6,160 near $7,589 in late 2024 | Austin American-Statesman, Jan. 10, 2025, citing BLS CPI |
| $23.76 billion 2024–25 GR-related ending / 2026–27 beginning balance | Texas Comptroller Biennial Revenue Estimate 2026–27 (Jan. 2025) |
| Economic Stabilization Fund (rainy-day fund) $27.5 billion as of June 30, 2026; cap about $26.9 billion for 2026–27; FY2026 beginning $24.8 billion | Comptroller bond appendix (ESF as of June 30, 2026) · ESF overview (July 2026) |
| Rainy-day fund projected $27.43B end FY2026 / $28.50B end FY2027 if no further appropriations; $28.48B in the Certification Revenue Estimate | Comptroller BRE 2026–27 ESF ending balance · Certification Revenue Estimates |
| 2023 surplus often cited at $32.7 billion | Comptroller / session reporting on the prior-cycle surplus (see inflation page note) |
| San Antonio ISD v. Rodriguez (1973); Edgewood I (1989, 777 S.W.2d 391); Edgewood II–III; Senate Bill 7 (1993); press name “Robin Hood”; Edgewood IV (1995, 917 S.W.2d 717); Chapter 49 recodification in HB 3 (2019) | TSHA — Edgewood ISD v. Kirby · Edgewood I excerpts · Tex. Educ. Code ch. 49 · 73rd Legislature SB 7 |
Students and pay
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| 69,074 students in 2026; −17.4% since 2016; 53% Hispanic; 48.4% economically disadvantaged | Texas Tribune Schools Explorer (TEA) |
| EL 29.7%; special education 20.2%; dyslexia 22.8%; at-risk 48.8% | Explorer — support |
| Average teacher base $63,367 (2025); new $54,565; 6+ years $67,722 | Explorer — teacher salary |
| Special education headcount 8,300 → 13,300 (2016–2025); ~16,500 boundary residents in other public schools | Austin American-Statesman, June 15, 2026 deficit history |
Wooldridge last year (F → B) and the 2026–27 principal move
- Statesman editorial, Aug. 20, 2026 — “This year, Wooldridge Elementary jumped from an F to a B rating.”
- KVUE, 2026 TEA ratings — Wooldridge on the B list; Wooten on the F list.
- AISD, Dec. 10, 2025 — Nick Martinez (then Wooten principal) appointed to Wooldridge for 2026–27.
- Community Impact, Dec. 29, 2025 — Wooldridge among ACE restarts; principals hire teachers who meet TAP criteria.
- AISD Wooldridge TAP / CIP 2025–26 — Principal Juan Cardenas on the campus intervention team during the year that produced the B.
- TEA 2025 School Report Card, Wooten EL (227901144) — overall 49, F.
- AISD Barrington consolidation letter — students reassigned to Guerrero-Thompson or Wooldridge by address.
- Nov. 20, 2025 board (meeting transcript) — about 83 Barrington students assigned to Wooldridge, 279 to Guerrero-Thompson.
- Wooldridge campus contact — home address 1412 Norseman Terrace, 78758; 2026–27 temporary address 400 Cooper Dr (Barrington), 78753.
- AISD 2022 bond / Wooldridge FAQs — swing to Barrington during Norseman Terrace modernization; new building anticipated fall 2028.
2026–27 cuts, librarians, closures
- KUT, June 3, 2026 — 558 positions; campus vs department dollars; property sales; closure savings.
- KUT, June 5, 2026 — Hunter “campus is carrying the brunt”; 78% payroll on campuses.
- Austin Chronicle, June 25, 2026 — June 18 vote, $887M budget, librarian amendment, TAP vs closure math.
- KXAN, June 23, 2026 — $205M reductions; 2% central salary cut; hubs; class size bands.
- Statesman, June 3, 2026 — 11.5 librarian FTE, campus list.
- Statesman, April 10, 2026 — 113 librarians, ~$7.5M.
- KXAN closure FAQ — campus names.
- Statesman, Aug. 18, 2026 — ~580 positions, hubs live, takeover risk at Burnet and Webb.
Austin history
- Koch & Fowler, A City Plan for Austin, Texas (1928) — “negro district,” schools as non-duplicated facilities.
- KUT, Aug. 14, 2019 — 1928 plan and later closures.
- Statesman closure timeline — 1971 Anderson, 2019 Brooke/Metz/Sims/Pease.
- Statesman, 2019 — small East Side footprint, 1987 lawsuit summary.
- Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel lecture, Dec. 11, 1964 — earlier form of the birds / fish / brothers line.
- Martin Luther King Jr., later spoken form — “When we look at modern man… walk the Earth like brothers and sisters.” That is the wording on the homepage, attributed to him, then only: 1964–2026. Should this still be true?
Machine-readable recapture series: data/aisd.json. Method: about.