Battle Looms as Democrats Try to Restore Education Cuts
The Texas Legislature cut more than $5 billion from public education in 2011 to help balance the state budget. Then, last month, lawmakers were told previous revenue estimates were wrong — and that they had more than $8 billion left to spend on that budget.
Spending that money
Audio: Ben Philpott's story for KUT News
Last week state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, began pushing the Republican leadership to answer why education funding hadn’t been discussed so far this session.
"I waited 28 days to see if the leadership would address this issue and right this wrong," Martinez ...
Comments (21)
hans5162@ix.netcom.com hans
The vast majority of voters would say to fund education. If you're behind on your mortgage payment, you don't wait until the bank forecloses. Unfortunately, because of redistricting, your legislative representative no longer listens to you. They listen to the right wing crazy people like Michael Quinn Sullivan and the pathological liars at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. They do not fear ordinary voters. They fear the tea party crazy folks who represent a small fraction of the electorate, but who vote in the primary. Under 10% of the electorate votes in the primary, where the elections are effectively decided. What the gutless wonders in the legislature fear is having a primary opponent running at them from the right. That is why they fear doing what each one of them knows is the right thing and funding education.
Anya Khan
I hate when pork is added to bills. If it were not for the logjam in the legislature, I would have no additions, that don't apply directly to a bill, forbidden
hans5162@ix.netcom.com hans
Anya,
What alternate universe do you occupy? This is the Texas legislature. There is no pork to speak of. Then again, if you want increased dropouts, higher juvenile crime and more people seeking public assistance then your position makes sense. Your idea that we can have a functioning government, but do not have to actually pay for it is what we have been doing for the last 10 years. We've used bond indebtedness to fund workers compensation, highways, and cancer research. That is what 10 years of "conservative" government have given us.
Jeff Funkhouser
Since when is restoring SOME of the $5B in cut funding for public ed port, Anya? As someone who has watched and participated in my local school districts for 25 years I'v e seen the pork cut, then the muscle, and now the bone. The lege has forced local districts to dismantle any program that isn't minimum skills based while assessing districts at higher and highers levels for over a decade now. They WANT public ed to fail so that their cronies at TAB (just ask their mouthpiece, Bill Hammond) can roll out their privatization plans into the light of day. Here's what THEY want to do with the 'extra' money from this biennium:
http://www.txbiz.org/wcnews/NewsArticleDisplay.aspx?articleid=175
They want to permanently lower the current business tax that has already been shown to be INsufficient to fund state operations at a subsistence level. Their motto seems to be, "Texas, a great place to move your business if you want lower taxes and even lower educational outcomes for future employees!"
R L
I want to fund education...if the money is well spent and achieves some significant results. I don't want to do what the Democrats want, just throw money at it because money might be available. The Democrats look at education funding as another social welfare program for Democrat patronage jobs. They claim everything is 'for the children' but everyone knows that's a joke. Let's spend the money if we can get better results in education.
R L
And, Jeff, really...if vouchers would really significantly improve education of children in Texas (a lot of evidence says they woud) why would you be against that? Could it be that mean old self interest of the teacher unions really isn't looking out 'for the childern' after all?
Arthur M. Thomas IV via Texas Tribune on Facebook
more money does not mean better education. This simple minded concept is destroying parent/student choice and real education for citizens.
David Whimsy via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Less money almost certainly means poorer education, though.
Matthew Cowan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
No, not true David. Since we have spent more and more on education of the past decades we are seeing less and less in return.
Paul Hughes via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Public school money is just a cash cow to the teachers' unions.
Mac Mcclure via Texas Tribune on Facebook
What they need to look at is administrative costs.
hans5162@ix.netcom.com hans
Once again Matthew, you lie. Education funding in real terms has been flat and declining. http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2013/jan/16/rick-perry/rick-perry-says-texas-education-increased-phenomen/
Teachers unions may be an issue in other states, but not in Texas. As for the administrative costs you other refer to, they average about 3%. If you really want to look at high administrative costs, you should look at charter schools.
Phillip Sanders via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Paul, Texas is right to work state. We don't have teacher unions in.
Phillip Sanders via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Strange that on average public schools spend $7500 per student on education where as if they went to a private school it would cost that same student over $10,000. I have a hard time understanding the anti-public school advocates' stance.
Craig Bennett Sr. via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Phillip, per student funding in Texas is approx $9000 according to Dallas Morning News. High-performing private school in Austin charges tuition at less than $7000.
hans5162@ix.netcom.com hans
Phillip,
Name the high performing private school in Dallas charging $7,000. I seriously doubt the accuracy of your statement. I can guarantee you, any private school or charter school is selective in which students they take. If any of the students is a problem, they send them back to the school district. Allow school districts to select which students gain admission and send the rest of the students to any charter school and I can promise you the public school will outperform the charter every time and do so at lower cost.
Jeff Funkhouser
And, R L, really ... I never said anything about vouchers, you did. Cite your 'plenty of evidence' and we can have a meaningful discussion. I've not seen any evidence of vouchers actually improving educational outcomes. Texas students in public schools deemed failing have had the right to transfer to any other public school in the state and less than 1% choose to do so each year. I'll reiterate what Philip said, Texas has no teacher unions. There is no collective bargaining. Teachers have no power. They get the contracts that administrators give them or find a job somewhere else.
R L
Phillip, I can't believe you expect Texas taxpayers to accept that tired old lie that because Texas has RTW there are no unions. Are you really that dumb or do you think we are?
R L
Straight from the American Federation of Teachers website. With multiple "locals" in Texas some of these clowns want to deny they are unions.
American Federation of
Teachers, AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, was founded in 1916 and today represents 1.5 million members in more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide.
These scammers want Texas Taxpayers to believe that because they have no collective bargaining they are not unions. They have no credibility.
R L
Jeff, I guess you want to be able to walk off on 'strike' like the Chicago teachers. Or would you prefer 'rubber room' duty like the taxpayers of NYC get stuck paying for? Just how low are you trying to take public school education in Texas?
James Cartlett
When, oh when will Texas finally become a blue state?
Rick Perry is bankrupting the education system in Texas. Too bad your state is being driven into the abyss by HeeHaw watching Republican politicans, who get C averages in college and go on to become POTUS.
At least we here in California gave the world Ronald Reagan. You Texans gave us George W. Bush, and you almost gave us another failure Rick Perry.