Land Board to Transfer $300 Million to School Fund
The School Land Board voted Tuesday to release $300 million into the Available School Fund for public schools.
The money will be released in two $150 million installments, one in February and the other on June. The funds had been caught in a standoff between the Legislature and the School Land Board, which operates out of the General Land Office and oversees the state’s public school land.
A constitutional amendment proposed in 2011 by state Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, allowed the board to put a portion of earnings from investments on real estate assets into the Available School Fund ...
Comments (7)
Lori Trammell via Texas Tribune on Facebook
hoping it goes to the classrooms...not admin.
Texas Supe
Good on you, Jerry Patterson. No more legislative raids on the kids' trust.
Colin Strother via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Gotta credit Matt Glazer and his crew. Big time work for many months to see this through. The difference between campaigning & advocacy. The "kid blogger" no more.
Jerry Patterson
Dear Colin,
You must exist in an alternate universe if you think the folks at Texas Progress had any influence whatsoever...
JP
hans5162@ix.netcom.com hans
Mr. Patterson,
Why don't we attribute the fault where it lies. We've had 10 years of Republican control of the legislature and every state-wide office. Since then, we have underfundedd just about every critical need. We have no adequate funding for the schools, we have not adequate funding for water infrastructure and no source of sufficient revenue for transportation infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Governor and the legislature have gone on a borrowing spree, issuing bonds for cancer research and to fund recurring expenses, such as transportation. Now, the Governor wants to give everyone a tax increase, with no thought about meeting the future needs of the state. Since the only thing you folks seem to understand are dinner table analogies, here's one. You have some extra money that you did not anticipate. Do you pay down the credit cards you've been living off of, fix the leaking roof and the clogged sewage line, or do you buy presents for all of your friends? We have four critical priorities the State has failed to address over the past 10 years. Those are education funding, transportation infrastructure funding and water infrastructure funding. The unprecendented debt run up during through the issuance of bonds for recurring expenses should be paid down. I'm not sure at what point it occurs, but the issues we face and, which have not been addressed are yours. The $300 million dollar issue and whether it is prudent to transfer it to education is but a drop in the bucket. The real issue is Republican mis-management, starting with the Governor. Also, take Susan Combs budget estimate with a grain of salt. She rarely gets things right.
Sincerely,
A Rational Texan
hans5162@ix.netcom.com hans
That should have been the Governor wants to give everyone a tax cut, not an increase.
Jerry Patterson
Dear Rational Texan,
I am not in complete agreement with you, nor am I in complete disagreement with you.
JP