Rep. Perez Challenges State Investigation of El Paso ISD

Abbott’s Comptroller passed over 79 districts that spend a larger share on administration; EPISD holds TEA’s top financial rating and ranks 30th lowest of 114 large districts

EL PASO, TX — State Representative Vince Perez (D-El Paso) today sent a letter to Texas Comptroller Don Huffines challenging the State’s investigation of the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD). Using the State’s own records, the letter shows that EPISD’s administrative spending meets the Texas Education Agency’s standard and that the law behind the investigation was written for tax collection.

On August 19, Governor Greg Abbott held a campaign event in El Paso and criticized EPISD’s spending. That same day, he asked the Comptroller to investigate up to four school districts, and the Comptroller’s office announced the review.

On October 5, the Comptroller named EPISD, Austin ISD, Prosper ISD and Barbers Hill ISD. The only selection rules announced were districts “of varying size and geographic location,” leaving out those run by state-appointed boards. Neither rule mentions spending. The report is due December 31, eight weeks after Election Day, and the only person the law requires it to go to is the Governor.

Accountability only means something if the rules are the same for everyone. By the State’s own measure, 79 eligible districts spend a larger share on administration than El Paso ISD, and none of them was chosen. El Paso taxpayers deserve to know why their district was.

— Rep. Vince Perez

The letter lays out what the State’s own records show:

• EPISD is under the State’s own benchmark for administrative costs. Perez’s office applied the Texas Education Agency’s formula for administrative costs to TEA’s own data. In 2024-25, 4.20 percent of EPISD’s spending went to administration. TEA gives large districts full credit at 4.50 percent or less. EPISD ranks 30th lowest of the 114 largest districts in Texas.
• The State rates EPISD’s finances superior. TEA’s 2025-26 financial rating for EPISD is an A, Superior Achievement, with a score of 92.
• Dozens of districts spend more on administration and were not chosen. Eighty-four large Texas districts spend a larger share on administration than EPISD. The Comptroller chose one of them, Austin ISD. Four others are run by state-appointed boards, which the Comptroller excluded. The remaining 79 were passed over, including eight with a lower TEA financial rating than EPISD. In 46 of the 84, the state representative for the largest part of the district is a Republican. None of those 46 was chosen.
• The Governor’s “104 percent” counts students who left. EPISD enrolled 12,562 fewer students in 2024-25 than in 2014-15. Statewide, Texas public schools lost 76,613 students in a single year, from 2024-25 to 2025-26. When enrollment drops, the basic work of running a district does not shrink with it: payroll still has to be processed, books audited and state reports filed. EPISD’s general administration spending rose 62 percent over ten years before inflation. Divided among fewer students, that became a 104 percent increase per student, from $163 to $333. More than 40 points of the Governor’s figure are children who left, not dollars spent.
• The law being used was written for tax collection. Tax Code Section 111.003 sits in the Tax Code’s chapter on collection procedures. A report under it must list violations of the State’s revenue laws and name the people believed responsible. If the report finds a violation, the Governor must send it to the Attorney General for prosecution. Neither the Governor nor the Comptroller has named a revenue law EPISD is alleged to have broken.
• The Legislature already decided who reviews school districts. Since 2004, state law has assigned school district performance reviews to the Legislative Budget Board. The Board can start a review on its own or when a district’s trustees vote to request one, and its reports go to the district, the Governor, legislative leaders and the public. The Governor has no role in starting one. The Comptroller’s last review of EPISD, in 1999, was requested by the district’s superintendent, took more than seven months and went to every member of the Legislature.

By the State’s own measures, El Paso ISD spends a smaller share on administration than 84 other large districts, and TEA grades its finances superior. If spending were the test, El Paso wouldn’t be on this list. The Comptroller owes El Paso families an explanation of what the test was.

— Rep. Vince Perez

EPISD’s own auditors, outside consultants and board identified the district’s budget problems, and general administration was not among the areas its audit found over budget. The board hired Superintendent Brian Lusk in December 2025. He has said the district “was not rightsized to align with enrollment trends” and that “we have taken a close look at every central office position and made significant reductions.” The district reports cutting 326 central-office and non-campus positions, and it reduced a projected $37 million shortfall for 2026-27 to $4.3 million. That work was underway before the Governor asked the Comptroller to act.

The letter asks the Comptroller to answer eight questions in writing within 14 days, including how EPISD was chosen, which revenue law the district is alleged to have broken, whether a referral to the Attorney General is being considered, and whether the full report will go to the Legislature and the public on the same day it goes to the Governor. In August, Huffines said his office would “report our findings to the Legislature and the people of Texas.”

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Media contact: Jose M. Landeros · info@vinceperez.com

Vince Perez is State Representative for House District 77 in El Paso. He serves on the influential House Ways and Means Committee as well the committees on Higher Education and Local, Consent, and Resolutions Calendars. He is the former El Paso County Commissioner for Precinct 3 and was named the 2016 County Leader of the Year by American City & County Magazine.