The Department of Education is expected to announce final numbers by April. In the meantime, the T.E.A. is predicting 5 to 10 percent reductions in federal financing, which makes up 11.9 percent of its overall budget. The T.E.A. will allocate financing for each district by July 1, said DeEtta Culbertson, a spokeswoman for the agency.

State legislators are not expected to come to the financial rescue. Representative Brandon Creighton, Republican of Conroe, chairman of the House Select Committee on Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility, said lawmakers would need to see “if there’s truly an impact we need to address,” before they increase financing for any programs affected by the budget cuts known as sequestration.

As federal and state financing sources disappear, the burden falls on local budgets.

“We will have to turn internally, as a district, to find a way to pick up the slack,” said Carl A. Montoya, the superintendent of Brownsville Independent School District, where 95 percent of students are considered economically disadvantaged.

For most districts, internal options include reducing staff and increasing class size. Lynse Pawelek, the special education director for Pleasanton I.S.D., just south of San Antonio, said she might be forced to lay off five paraprofessional special-education aides who serve the district’s nearly 300 special-needs students. She also expects class sizes to grow. Dr. Montoya said he would probably downsize staff and programming. Robbie Stinnett, special education director for Duncanville I.S.D., which has more than 1,300 students with disabilities, said she would probably eliminate jobs and decrease budgets for professional development and assistive technology.

“We are all in a dilemma of how to meet the needs of students that we’re required to meet, but not given the funding to do,” Ms. Stinnett said.