The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Government Reform & Oversight Coalition (GROC) released its first major research report on April 7 regarding the state’s school bond process and taxpayer burden.
The report, titled “Hijacked: How the Bond Process is Being Used Against Taxpayers,” outlines how a network of consultants, vendors, and special interests benefit financially from the state’s school bond system. According to the foundation, these incentives prioritize insiders over taxpayers and have contributed to local school bond-related debt in Texas surpassing $236 billion as of 2026.
“This report marks a critical milestone in TPPF’s work to expose the Education Cartel. What we’re seeing is a system where insiders benefit from pushing ever-larger bond packages while taxpayers are left footing the bill. It’s not just inefficient, it’s fundamentally unfair,” said Mandy Drogin, GROC Senior Fellow, in the press release.
Judge A. Shepard, GROC Policy Analyst and author of the report, said: “This is a system that has been hijacked. Small political contributions from interested vendors can translate into massive taxpayer-funded payouts once bonds pass. That creates a powerful incentive structure that drives up debt and undermines accountability.”
The report is an expansion of TPPF’s work under GROC to address what it says are as structural drivers of local spending growth in Texas, including taxpayer-funded lobbying practices and the school bond networks it described in the report.
The foundation says it influences public policy through research published in prominent media outlets while focusing primarily on issues affecting Texas but also extending its impact nationally, according to the official website.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation functions as a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded by private contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations. It seeks to promote liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise in Texas and nationally; offers analysis and testimony for legislation; and engages in litigation related to constitutional principles according to information available on its official website.
Further details about this research paper can be found at the organization’s press release.