School bonds

The school district's AA-plus rating is supported by strong reserves and Houston's economic strength, S&P Global Ratings analysts said.

The Texas Education Agency, which initially sought the takeover in 2019, will appoint managers to run the state's largest public school system.

Chicago's school district will tap its investment-grade dedicated capital improvement tax credit for the first time in five years in a $529 million deal.

Gov. Greg Abbott used his State of the State address to fast track his priorities for the legislative session and drop a hint about an upcoming $100 billion transportation infrastructure plan.

Rating analysts said dropping reserves to 0.25% from 5% to free up capacity does not impact the school bond guarantee program's triple-A ratings.

A reduction in the program's reserves and February debt payments and maturities of outstanding guaranteed bonds will increase capacity by $7 billion to $9 billion.

Rising interest rates depressed refunding opportunities, but new money issuance rose amid demand for infrastructure to serve the region's growing population.

Despite its nearly drained capacity, the Texas Permanent School Fund program continues to operate as it seeks legislative and regulatory solutions to a federal cap.

School districts must sell bonds based on their own ratings or with private insurance because the triple-A-rated Permanent School Fund's capacity is nearly maxed out.

As a result of low projected available capacity, some school districts may not get the program's triple-A ratings for their bond sales.

Projected available capacity for the Permanent School Fund's bond guarantee program fell to $653 million at the end of October from $3.52 billion the previous month.

A report digs into the fiscal "entanglements" between CPS and the city as the district moves from mayoral control to an elected school board.

The rating agency lifted the outlook of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest, to positive.

The Minnesota municipal bond vet will continue his focus on charter school finance in Florida.

The Sherwood school district in northwest Oregon had its issuer rating downgraded to A3 from A1 by Moody's Investors Service.

Guilford County's request for a $1.7 billion voter-approved bond package, however, was put on hold until the next Local Government Commission meeting.

Several Texas school districts, including Austin's, have put bond issues on the Nov. 8 ballot with some of the proceeds earmarked to fund security measures.

Despite a boost in state funding, Arizona school districts face big budget cuts unless the Republican-controlled legislature lifts a cap on their spending.

The Texas Permanent School Fund's bond guarantee program, capped at $117.32 billion under federal law, reported projected available capacity was only about $3.9 billion as of June 30.

A Reason Foundation study found K-12 debt steadily rising since 2014.