The Texas State Board of Education said last week that the Permanent School Fund, which guarantees school district bonds and supports the purchase of student textbooks, realized a return of 25.02% in 2009.
The fund, the largest public endowment for public schools in the nation, was valued at $22.2 billion on Dec. 31, up from $18.1 billion at the end of 2008.
The PSF’s guarantee of school debt allows districts to gain triple-A ratings for local general obligation bonds. The fund also provides textbooks to the state’s 4.7 million schoolchildren.
The fund’s bond guarantee program was closed in March 2009 due to a drop in the value of assets, but new applications were accepted in January. The first guarantees from the newly opened fund were issued in February.
At the end of January, the PSF guaranteed $49.7 billion of outstanding debt from 2,508 bond issues. The market value of the fund at the time was $27.4 billion, with a book value of $23.5 billion.
