Breckenridge Texan

If Gov. Abbott wants to cut bureaucracy, he could start with his executive branch.

Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared in The Dallas Morning News, where Glenn Rogers is a contributing columnist.

By Glenn Rogers

Cattle bloat is a serious and potentially fatal condition caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and methane in the rumen, part of their four compartment “stomach.”

It can lead to life-threatening pressure on the lungs and heart. Cow doctors give affected animals relief by passing a stomach tube to relieve the gas buildup or, in more severe cases, poking a hole through the skin and into the rumen.

As a cattle veterinarian, the word “bloat” has a special meaning and brings back memories of helping cattle by relieving the pressure and even saving a distressed animal’s life.

It’s also a great analogy for another kind of bloat – the abuse of excessive state resources. Cattle bloat is like its human-induced counterpart: bureaucracy bloat.

Abbott takes aim at bureaucracy in Texas schools

During an Aug. 19 visit to El Paso, Gov. Greg Abbott said the following in reference to alleged excessive local ISD spending: “Those dollars belong in the classroom, not wasted on bloated bureaucracy. Administrators must be held accountable for their reckless spending and diverting attention away from what really matters: the students.”

Certainly, supporting students while still reining in excessive spending at all levels is desirable for effective conservative governance. But what is the root cause of this local ISD bloated bureaucracy? Is it really the local ISD’s that are the major cause? Or is it ever increasing mandates, often unfunded, that are forced on local schools by the Texas Education Agency?

Public school administrators have been required for decades to have a third-party financial audit conducted annually, with results published for public access. Public meetings are held to discuss audit results. Locally elected school boards then vote on budget decisions in open meetings. All ISD budgets are publicly posted documents. Additionally, every ISD is scored annually through the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) on 21 fiscal indicators.

It seems the governor is being redundant and creating even more unnecessary bloated bureaucracy at the state level. After 11 years of an administration known for gutting Texas public schools, Abbott is once again offering pre-election plans to fix the problem he largely helped create.

Audit finds problems at TEA

Ironically, earlier on the same day as the governor’s attack on public school’s fiscal management, the State Auditor’s Office (SAO) issued results of an audit of the TEA. This was in response to a bipartisan mandate in the last legislative session that required a comprehensive forensic audit.

Major problems were identified in TEA that could best be described as bloated bureaucracy. Could the governor’s attack on ISDs be a deflection from the TEA audit, as the November election approaches?

In January of last year, I wrote a column for The Dallas Morning News entitled “Rein in TEA to improve Texas education.”  The article stated that “Under Gov. Greg Abbott, the TEA is experiencing explosive growth in personnel and programs that will continue to increase regulations and mandates, demoralize teachers and exacerbate the mass exodus of educators at every level, including some of our absolute best.” The TEA is no better now than it was then. The overbearing arm of the executive branch, led by an unelected Abbott appointee who has held onto his powerful bureaucratic position since 2016, should maybe focus inward.

The recent audit revealed numerous bloat problems resulting from grazing the lush pastures of state-controlled abundance.

• Top Heavy Management: TEA employed one manager for every 3.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees – three times the statutory limit of one manager for every 11 FTEs and higher than every other state agency. Management staff increased by 38% from 2021 to 2025, while non-management staff increased by 12% in the same period.
• Management Spending: Management salary and wage costs increased by nearly 64% from 2021 to 2025, while non-management salary and wage costs increased by 31% in the same period.
• Grant Oversight Gaps: State funded grants received a high-risk rating due to missing documentation or untracked performance measures.
• Contract Transparency: One $67 million contract to a Florida contractor was not posted for an entire year. TEA also failed to obtain nepotism disclosures from staff.
• Younger student concerns: In the audit, TEA did not verify charter schools’ private PreK providers complied with state laws.

Why is the TEA growing while 175 schools are closing?

Bloated charter schools

While not fitting the typical Abbott narrative disparaging regular public schools, charter schools, approved by TEA Commissioner Mike Morath, have been found to have much worse administrative bloat than ISDs. Perhaps this is due to the TEA’s largesse. Charter schools spend an average of $547 more per student — that’s 56% more — on central administrative expenses than public school districts.

According to the advocacy group Our Schools Our Democracy, 47% of the 19 charter schools authorized from 2016 to 2025 by Commissioner Morath earned F or D ratings in 2026. Twelve recently approved charter schools have already closed (37.5% of those authorized from 2016-2024).

When livestock bloat occurs, it requires immediate attention. So does bureaucratic bloat. The treatment starts with reining in administrative spending and burdensome requirements passed down from the TEA to ISDs.

Relieving cattle bloat releases a strong, highly unpleasant smell of warm, fermenting grass, rancid volatile fatty acids and sharp sulfur or rotten-egg gases from the pressurized rumen. I shudder to imagine the smell of bloat relief that could come out of Austin.

Better stand back!

Glenn Rogers is a rancher and veterinarian in Palo Pinto County. He served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2021 to 2025, representing Stephens County. He is a Dallas Morning News contributing columnist.