Believe it or not, society owes a debt to teachers. From teaching children how to hold a pencil correctly to understanding the fundamental laws of physics and what it means to be a functional citizen within the general public, teachers are the foundation of a student’s education.

Teachers have become a necessary building block as they instill the knowledge we have today. But how much longer will Texas be fortunate enough to have access to this education until it is dismantled due to the lack of funding?

Recently, the Texas Association of School Business Officials surveyed 313 school districts on their current financial statuses. From budget plans and expected cuts to the plans for a salary increase or lack thereof.

When surveying the districts, they questioned them on whether or not they would be needing budget cuts for 2025. 56% said they will be needing to make budget cuts and use some of the fund balance. When asked about significant cuts being made, 43% of the districts said they are in the process of making those cuts.

As schools are depleting their funds, it’s heavily affecting teachers as they are becoming unable to perform their curriculum as they are resorting to other measures to maintain their lessons.

Amanda Fitz, an Art I and Jewelry teacher at Palo Duro High School in Amarillo, describes how the lack of funding and assistance had forced her hand at reworking her classes for this past school year.

“All of us art teachers, we don’t have support,” Fitz said. “We don’t have the technology and materials provided to us. We don’t have books like textbooks that support that. We don’t have…/… we have nothing.”

Fitz continues to explain the depth of the issue and how the absence of leadership has caused the art faculty to fend for themselves.

“We don’t have a learning leader…/… or like a district leader that provides us with anything,” Fitz said. “So, like posters…/… like basic stuff, none of that is provided at all.”

With the failure to support their enrichment teachers, Fitz and the rest of the art faculty had resorted to curating their materials from their own pockets.

“We make all of our own, like I make everything that was in that class… everything by hand and my own money,” Fitz said. “Every bit of it was by me.”

Fitz, like a majority of teachers, faces the sparsity of support necessary for them to maintain a proper educational environment.

As stated earlier, many districts have plans to begin issuing budget cuts. One of these initiatives is examined in Suzanne Blake’s 2025 article from Newsweek, as she further investigates the oddity of a troubling increase in students within their classrooms as they continue to be struck by tremendous budget cuts.

“Classrooms will increase from 22 to 24, middle school classes will go up to 25.7 from 23.5… high school classes will get even larger, averaging 30 students instead of the current 27.5,” Blake detailed, discussing the possible increase of students within classrooms.“The state has refused to increase the base per-student funding schools receive while also implementing new mandates that it does not fully fund.”

Blake also discloses how teachers are now being laid off as a result of trying to overcome low funding. Kevin Thompson, a finance expert and founder of 9i Capital Group, explains to her the tactics districts are resorting to avoid a bigger funding crisis.

“Teachers are losing their jobs because voters and lawmakers didn’t want to raise property taxes to fund teacher salaries,” Thompson said to Blake. “It’s the kids who will feel the impact the most, all while Texas pushes a voucher system disguised as school choice—further diverting public education funds.”

The number of students continues to rise as the lack of support, assistance and leadership for teachers dissipates, resulting in curriculums, needs, and education not being fully met for any party in this matter.

Teachers are forced to do more with less, financially funding their supplies as they face job insecurity and growing classes. As budget cuts continue to transpire and resources dwindle, students will ultimately bear the biggest burden.Without immediate action, the educational quality will decline immensely, and future generations will suffer the consequences of a system that failed them. How much longer can Texas afford to ignore the crisis at hand?