By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX – Announcement of a Fourth Called Session of the 78th Texas Legislature to address public school finance has drawn a variety of responses from state officials.
It didn't take long after Gov. Rick Perry announced the special session to start Tuesday, April 20, that he received a hand-delivered letter from his political thorn-in-the-side, State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
Perry said he would not open the "call" of the special session to anything but public school finance. That prompted Strayhorn's letter - urging the governor to include in the call the restoring of "full and complete" funding to the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Strayhorn has repeatedly said that the state has available more than $580 million that could be used to restore health insurance coverage to the nearly 120,000 children who have been dropped from the CHIP program since September.
"This is not about politics - this is about saving lives," Strayhorn said in her letter to Perry. While noting only he can open the call of the special session, she used her bear-poking stick once more to prod Perry by adding, "However, we all must answer to the people and our own conscience."
While Strayhorn urged opening the call of the session, other state officials were pleased Perry finally announced that the legislature will address reform of the state's public school finance program. "I think we have a golden opportunity to work on the funding issue," said the state's Commissioner of Education, Shirley Neeley. "We will be ready to provide any data or information that legislators need as they consider this complex issue," she said on behalf of the Texas Education Agency.
Saying the state is facing a public education funding crisis, Rep. Kent Grusendorff (R-Arlington) is pleased that Perry chose to call a special session. He called public school finance "the biggest challenge that our state has faced in recent history."
Grusendorff served as co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Public School Finance that recently released its report. The report, however, did not receive high grades because of its lack of concrete suggestions, recommendations and/or remedies. In fact, House and Senate Democrats who served on the committee refused to sign the letter accompanying the report, fearful that the report did nothing to ensure equity for public school students throughout the state.
"Over the past several months, The Texas House Select Committee on Public School Finance and the Joint Select Committee on Public School Finance have received extensive input from all of the states major education, business and consumer groups," said Grusendorff. "Now, we are ready to get down to business."
Grusendorff said lawmakers will consider the governor's proposal and that they are "ready to do the hard work of formulating a new public education funding system that will create a simpler, more balanced education funding system, provide property tax relief, attract, retain, and reward the best teachers, and give Texas schoolchildren the kind of quality education that will brighten their individual futures and the future of the great State of Texas."
His counterpart in the Senate, Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), co-chair of the Joint Select Committee, expressed optimism that the school finance issue can be solved during a special session. "I am hopeful that we will see significant property tax reduction, the end of the Robin Hood system of local wealth sharing, while retaining equity in our system, and an increase in the state's share of public education," she said.
Shapiro said she is hopeful that legislators will approve a funding source that is "fair and equitable, for all businesses and individual taxpayers - a revenue structure that absolutely must have capacity to grown with our public schools and the 80,000 new students per year." The Plano Republican added that the ultimate decision on any long-term solution will be made by the voters of the state.
Democrat Sen. Eddie Lucio of Brownsville said he expects "an open and honest dialogue" during the special session, noting it is time "to set aside all partisan ideologies and consider what is most important - the education of all school children in Texas." He also said he is hopeful that a school finance plan "that is equitable for all of Texas" will be the result of lawmakers' efforts.
Lucio, a staunch supporter of equity for Border schools in his South Texas district, said he will not support a plan that "cuts a single penny" from South Texas schools or burdens his constituents "with regressive taxes."
Last week when Perry laid out his education excellence plan, House Speaker Tom Craddick said the House would "give the governor's plan the consideration, analysis and respect due our state's chief executive" while attempting to "find answers to this puzzle that are fair both to the children who attend Texas' public schools and to the taxpayers who fund those schools."
While not signing on to Perry's proposal, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said last week he will continue to work with the state's leadership to "develop a permanent and comprehensive school finance reform plan which reduces local property taxes, lowers the overall tax burden...ends Robin Hood, maintains equity, continues local control, and provides new resources to improve our schools, tied to performance and accountability."