By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
"In order to continue to make progress, we have to have accountability and increase resources," said Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston), "and yes, that means more money."
The Houston Democrat today laid out his amendment to CSHB 2, Rep. Kent Grusendorf's (R-Austin) public school reform bill heard on the House floor today.
Hochberg's "Learn and Live" plan, designed by a number of House Democrats, is about a number of things, he said - tax relief, how classrooms are funded and how much funding is to be made available, how teachers are compensated and if there is equity among the state's school districts.
Hochberg said the court, in declaring the state's public school finance system unconstitutional, has told the state was equity is - all districts having access to similar tax rates at similar efforts. He stressed that the court emphasized "all" districts.
"HB 2 doesn't do that," said Hochberg. "This amendment changes that."
Hochberg said he has a real interest in delivering property tax relief, since it is an issue on which many House members ran their election efforts in the last General Election.
He said the Learn and Live plan provides all homeowners 25 cents in tax relief and also increases homestead exemptions from $15,000 to $45,000. He said taxpayers will see more relief through increases in the homestead exemption than they will in a reduction in the tax rate itself.
The Houston Democrat noted that while Grusendorf touts his bill as including $3.2 billion in "new money," he does not see all of the funding as "new," especially since $350 million in textbook costs will have to come out of that money, along with paying for the Gifted and Talented programs no longer funded, and for restoration of health insurance stipends for teachers and ancillary school employees. "Even if you call that new money," he said, "it comes out to 5 percent over two years, which about keeps you up with inflation." He added that people are saying, "That's not enough."
Hochberg told members of the House that they raised their own office budgets by 5 percent as a "bare bones minimum just to get by," adding, "and we weren't trying to educate the children of Texas." He said members "didn't bat an eye" over that increase, yet that's the amount being considered as a "great move forward" for the schools, even when it includes mandates.
The amendment puts more money into school districts, said Hochberg, with 90 percent of the districts in the state benefiting. He told fellow House members it "brings more money home to your school districts."
Regarding teacher pay, Hochberg said he "absolutely" agrees that the state needs to attract the best teachers "to the places that we need the most help." To do that, he said, incentives have to be up front. He said an incentive is not effective if it is "after the fact."
Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) said Hochberg's "amendment" is really a complete substitute for the bill and "replaces everything in the bill and doesn't' really give us much tax relief." He said the bill only reduces tax rates from the current $1.50 per $100 valuation to $1.25, is only 25 cents of tax relief and said the bill is based on "shaky funding."
The Learn and Live plan is about "priorities, goals and ambitions," said Rep. Jim Dunnam (D-Waco) and about "the dreams not only for our children, but for children throughout the state." He said the legislature has the opportunity to make a "generational change" in Texas, an opportunity he said "doesn't come too often."
"We should value every child and we should value them equally," said the Waco Democrat. He said HB 2 creates two categories of children in the state - with 90 percent in one system and 10 percent in another. "It doesn't cost billions of dollars to equalize funding," he said. In addition to treating children the same, Dunnam said families should also be treated the same - noting the Learn and Live plan strikes a balance when there is both a tax rate reduction and an increase in the homestead exemption.
In closing on his amendment, Hochberg said if members believe schools have gone as far as they need to go, if they believe that the state is providing all the resources schools need, they should vote against his amendment. He said, however, that the Learn and Live plan allows for more accountability with the same accountability issues as in the Grusendorf bill, and has more equity.
On a motion by Chisum, Hochberg's amendment was tabled by an 81-67 vote, with Democrats' hopes for the Learn and Live plan's passage scuttled.