At least 135 public schools have closed or have been approved to close all across Texas since late 2023, as districts face budget crises amid state funding shortfalls, according to data gathered by the public school advocacy organization Our Schools Our Democracy.
Carrie Griffith, executive director of the Austin-based nonprofit, said every region of the state has been impacted by school closures. “It’s not specific to urban or rural areas. … It’s not confined to any sort of racial or ethnic breakdown.” Griffith said. “That is why we say it’s not a local failure; it’s a statewide trend.”
The number of Texas public schools facing closure more than doubled from 2024 to 2025, rising from 22 to 50, the nonprofit’s data shows. And in the first six months of 2026, Texas school districts have voted to close even more schools—at least 55—than last year.
Read more from the Texas Observer.
