Fort Worth Independent School District says it will cut staff members because of its budget crunch. Dallas ISD is ending some high school programs. Plano ISD is conducting a study which “may lead to restructuring or consolidating schools to better serve students,” the district says.

“No one cause is to blame, although the state legislature not providing addition per pupil funding while mandating new security measures did not help, districts said,” WFAA reports. “Declining enrollment, which affects funding the districts receive on a per student basis and pandemic-era federal funding running out have affected district’s bottom lines as well.”

Yet the lawmakers who torpedoed a funding bill because it would have allowed parents some freedom to choose their children’s schools did so at the education establishment’s request—and now the districts are pleading poverty.

But are they really in such financial straits? The Dallas Morning News thinks so.