Texas voters on Nov. 4 will get to decide whether the state should create an $850 million funding source for the Texas State Technical College.
The Texas State Technical College is a system of public two-year campuses where students can obtain technical and workforce training credentials in fields for electricians, plumbers and construction workers.
Unlike community colleges or school districts, TSTC only receives performance-based state funding tied to graduate salaries, said Joe Arnold, TSTC’s deputy vice chancellor for government relations and chief external relations officer.
But the Texas State Technical College can only use those funds for operations, Arnold said. The college relies on infrequent state funding for new buildings or equipment and limited funding from the Higher Education Fund annually, Arnold said.
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Proposition 1, approved in the Texas Legislature this summer, would create the Technical Institution Infrastructure Fund and the Available Workforce Education Fund, according to a report from the House Research Organization, a nonpartisan agency in the Texas House of Representatives.
These funds would be housed in the state treasury, separate from general revenue, and the state comptroller would distribute the money annually for construction, repairs, land acquisition and educational materials, according to the report.
Critics argue the proposition could reduce legislative oversight by creating funding outside the typical budget process, according to the report. Critics also said it wouldn’t fix problems with the Texas State Technical College’s current funding model, which can restrict funding when graduates don’t meet salary thresholds for reasons beyond the college’s control, according to the report.
The current $850 million endowment comes from funds set aside in the last budget cycle rather than new tax dollars, Arnold said.
Future dollars for the proposed funds can come from state money, investment earnings and private donations and gifts, said Kate Bierly, a higher education policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The new funding from the proposition would help the Texas State Technical College obtain the additional space and equipment needed to prepare more students for Texas’ workforce, Bierly said.
“Texas has tens of thousands of jobs that need workers, and companies can’t find enough people who know how to work with machines, technology and other hands-on skills,” she said.
Employers are so eager for skilled workers that they offer jobs to Texas State Technical College students who obtained a certification, often before they graduate with an associate’s degree, Arnold said.
If Texas voters approve Proposition 1, Arnold said, the new funds could make it easier for the Texas State Technical College to open a new campus in Denton County and to expand further into Ellis County.
“It’s a game-changer,” he said. “It’s transformational for the college and for what we’re able to do. It would allow us to plan and to meet employers where they are.”
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.