◼ Texas school fund now worth nation-high $37.7B - Houston Chronicle via Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
A fund Texas uses to buy instructional materials and cover some local school districts' costs is now worth nearly $38 billion, officials announced Tuesday, making it the nation's largest educational endowment.
Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson credited a booming natural gas industry for growing the Permanent School Fund, which was worth about $37.7 billion as of June 30.
It was started in 1854 with an initial investment of just $2 million.
The fund is overseen by Patterson's office and the State Board of Education, among other state entities. It gets proceeds from the sale of state land and rental of mineral rights for oil and natural gas exploration.
In a statement, Patterson and Education Commissioner Michael Williams said the fund had outpaced Harvard University's endowment, which they said was worth $36.4 billion through June 30.
