A local group says schools across the state are sharing the pain in the spending cuts, but those feeling the worse impact are those that were already having serious problems.
Dr. Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk, says they've spent the last year studying the impact of the state budget cuts on Texas schools and students.
"What we're saying is there are a couple of things that really stand out in these cuts," Sanborn said.
Sanborn said the legislature cut $5.4 billion in public education funding during the 2010-2011 school year. Children at Risk wanted to find out where this affected students the most.
The study found pre-K programs suffered the most with a 9 percent cut -- a program they believe is most important for high-poverty kids. They also found class sizes increasing in many situations.
He believes parents need to lobby state lawmakers for change.
"The most important thing that parents understand is that they need to stand with kids in the state of Texas and to say we need to restore those smaller class sizes for our children," Sanborn said. "We need to restore pre-K programs and make sure at least that we are funding the growth in the student population in the state of Texas."
Children at Risk will release the full results of its report Monday.
Click here to learn more about the study and its findings.
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