Texas switches to intensity-based formula to fund special education

Finding the appropriate staff to provide special education services has always been a challenge for school districts. Given federal requirements, there is little wiggle room on providing services to students, and some students require more attention than others. In response to the increasing number of students identified with disabilities across the state and the difficulty in finding appropriate staff to accommodate those disabilities, the Texas Legislature enacted a major change in how special education services are funded at the state level beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

Previously, school districts received state funding based on what instructional setting a student with a disability is placed in and what proportion of the day they spend in that setting. In some cases, this would entitle a district to a small amount of support for students with exceptional needs, leaving the school district to pay for the rest of that student's support to comply with federal law. Special education advocates have asked for years for the state's funding model to more accurately reflect the needs of individual students rather than simply considering what kind of classroom they learn in.

In the 89th legislative session in 2025, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 568, which combined to create a new intensity of services model for special education funding.

Under this model, students are placed into tiers of intensity depending on a variety of factors, including the nature of required supports, whether or not the provider of those supports needs a specialized credential, requirements on student-teacher ratios when providing supports, and how much specialized equipment or technology is needed to support each student. These factors are considered to support the students' ability to access curriculum and instruction, potential behavior issues that result from their disability, their ability to communicate, and their capacity to function independently.

Taken together, these factors provide significantly more specificity in how students fit into the special education service model and will likely provide much more support to school districts that struggle to pay for appropriate services for their students with special needs.

The Texas Education Agency recently deployed an online tool for parents and districts to provide a clearer picture of how much support the state will provide for special education students. Districts are still making sense of the new funding model, but advocates have welcomed the change and hope that it will have a positive impact for students across the state.

ONLINE EXTRA: Find more about TEA's funding model here.

This article appeared in the Summer 2026 issue of The Classroom Teacher.