By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
Public school reform as outlined in the committee substitute for HB 2 "jeopardizes children in the name of tax relief," said Dr. Dawson Orr, superintendent of the Wichita Falls school district and spokesman for the Coalition to Invest in Texas Schools.
Orr and others in the coalition held a press conference today to decry Rep. Kent Grusendorf's (R-Arlington) bill that attempts to reform the public school finance system while reducing property tax burdens throughout the state.
Orr said the group is urging the legislature to "invest in Texas schools," noting HB 2 fails the school children of Texas, teachers, parents and communities, and does not supply a "long-term solution to the funding crisis facing Texas schools."
Orr said not only does HB 2 not provide enough new money for schools, but it also includes a "host of new requirements" that are not adequately funded. It also restricts districts' ability to raise additional revenue.
With one-third of the legislative session already over and only six months until the school year ends, Orr said schools were hopeful of something positive. However, he said that although the legislature is bound by the State Constitution to provide adequate education for all Texas children, it has "too long shirked its responsibility." He said when Gov. Rick Perry made the issue a legislative emergency, school officials were hopeful something would change, but it did not. HB 2, he said, "does not adequately address our concerns or the needs of students."
The Coalition to Invest in Public Schools previously noted what would be necessary in public school reform. Those priorities remain, said Orr, and include: any new system must be adequate to meet the diverse needs of the state's school districts; it must provide a 90 percent equity standard and a clear roadmap to bring 98 percent of students into an equalized system over time; it must have new capacity to allow the public school system to grow; it must respect the voice of local communities in the education of their children; and it must provide adequate facilities.
"HB2 does not sufficiently address these principles," said Orr. With Texas the second fastest growing state in the nation, Orr said the legislature has an obligation to ensure that school funding grows to meet the needs of the more than 85,000 new students added to the system each year.
Rick Woolfolk, a member of the Denton ISD board, questioned whether the $3 billion of "new money" pledged by Grusendorf in his HB 2 is indeed new money. He said it is not, pointing out that at least $600 million being sent to school districts is to pay health insurance supplements, half of the funding cut by the legislature for that purpose in 2003. He noted the legislature also failed to purchase $400 million in new textbooks. Woolfolk says funding in HB 2 "barely covers inflation and does nothing to fix the lack of meaningful discretion in setting school tax rates."
The school official the problem with public schools is "lack of capacity," and added that HB 2 does not address the ability of local school districts to pay for escalating costs of programs. He noted also that HB 2 repeals the $1,000 health insurance provision for teachers and school employees and replaces it with one-time salary increase.
An official of the Texas PTA said geography should not determine the value of a child's education and added that HB 2 does not adequately fund facilities and thus "ignores a vital need" of school districts. In many districts, student populations are growing by thousands each year and yet there are not enough funds for repairs and updates of current facilities and for addition of new facilities.
The Texas Legislature should concentrate on an "adequate, fair" system, said Orr. He said if the legislature can identify money with which to lower property taxes, surely it can find money to fund the public schools.
Saying the coalition supports property tax relief, Orr added that they also believe there is a more appropriate balance that is "realistic and attainable," and the right thing to do for Texas schoolchildren. He said the legislature "must do better" and "can do better." He said school officials know that they, too, must do better and that they can. But it is the obligation of the state to fund schools while it is the obligation of school teachers and officials to ensure students have an excellent education.
Some members of the coalition noted that federal dollars were meant to "supplement, not supplant" state dollars, and that federal funds allow the money to flow to the child "regardless of what school district they live in." The current school finance system is "very dynamic" and "responsive to one child." Bill Grusendorf said he doesn't want to trade that for HB 2. He said HB 2 instead sets out a "block of money that doesn't change with time."