Burnt Orange Report

Rick Perry's At It Again... Again

By Andrew Dobbs

Last week I posted a story about how Rick Perry thought we didn't need any more money for our schools. His quote, given in the hardly liberal Dallas Morning News was this:

"Do we need more resources? Do we need a bigger pie?" the governor said in response to a question from reporters. "The answer is no."

Sounds pretty clear- no new money for education. But now....

Gov. Rick Perry on Monday sought to “clarify” his stance against new money for public education this year, saying he now would favor additional funds for schools if new incentive programs are created to improve student achievement.

Mr. Perry, who put himself at odds with hundreds of school districts last week when he said he saw no reason to boost education funding except for enrollment increases, modified his position by opening the door for modest increases in a planned special session this spring.

“As chief executive officer of this state, I take very seriously my role of protecting Texans’ pocketbooks. That’s why I’m not convinced we need to put new dollars into school funding formulas beyond what it costs to keep up with enrollment growth,” Mr. Perry told reporters on Monday.

“But I have not ruled out new dollars for our schools. I would like to see any new dollars that are available for education used to fund results-oriented performance incentives. This can be done by making sure any new dollars are placed into a specific fund that provides positive incentives for our schools to achieve greater academic excellence and efficiency.”

He said Monday he wanted to “clarify” his position and point out that he is against more money for schools only if no changes are made to help boost student achievement.

So, let's see here. Last week he said "Do we need more resources?... The answer is no." This week he says "I have not ruled out new dollars for our schools." Sounds like a flip flop made because people are outraged and he wants to be reelected. And why would people be outraged? I mean, money doesn't improve education beyond a certain minimum level, right? Well, I'd disagree with that but the point is moot- we aren't even at that minimum level.

Lawmakers were warned by the Texas Supreme Court last year that the current funding system is on the verge of collapse as more and more districts reach the state’s tax rate limit of $1.50 per $100 valuation while the overall percentage of state aid for schools continues to decline annually. Local property taxes have soared in most districts.

Dallas schools Superintendent Mike Moses and other education officials have told state lawmakers that lack of adequate funding for schools could undermine the achievement gains seen in Texas public schools over the past decade....

Though Mr. Perry amended his comments Monday to say he isn't opposed to additional funding revenue, some school leaders say damage has already been done.

John Carpenter, president of the Highland Park ISD school board, has called on Mr. Perry to visit districts statewide and really take a look at what's going on, not simply stop for a photo op.

“I invite you and your staff to come to our district to review our budget and operations. Show me where we can make additional cuts in our budget and continue to raise student achievement,” he wrote. “I do not believe it is possible.”

Highland Park, also a plaintiff in the school finance lawsuit, isn’t the only North Texas district quivering about Mr. Perry's remarks.

“When the leadership has that mindset, it's very disconcerting,” said Deena Reeve, president of the Coppell ISD school board.

Facing a projected deficit of $11.2 million next year, Plano school district officials plan to cut more than 50 positions from the budget. Superintendent Doug Otto and school trustees blame the situation on the state's school finance system.

Highland Park and Plano are each two of the most Republican cities in the nation. Mike Moses is a Republican. These people are spurning the governor from their own party and saying that he's dead wrong. Plano laid off 45 people and cut 15 positions from attrition. When you are having to cut staff when your facilities are already struggling and your teachers already paid paltry sums for the incredibly important work they do that's a sign that things aren't right in this state.

Finally, Perry's circular logic would be hilarious if it didn't mean that millions of school kids are getting screwed out of an education. He says he'll only give new money if improvements are made but right now improvements can really only be made if they have more money. Therefore they'll fail, they'll lose some of the money they already have and it's a vicious cycle. Rick Perry is more interested in his big business lobby patrons than he is the people of this state and in 2006 he's going to find out the hard way that those lobbyists only have so many votes.