Burnt Orange Report

July 23, 2005

Texas Education Crisis

By Damon McCullar

Gov. Perry is now into his 6th Special Session. Each special session cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.7 million dollars. Each one of these special sessions have had something to do with reference">public education. So what have Texans have to show for our 10.2 million dollars?

We have a public school system that is near the bottom of the barrel in the United States when it come education. We are ranked 33rd in the country, tied with West Virgina and 48th in the country in SAT scores. On the issue of drop out rates, Texas has the highest.

The administration would love to have you think that things really aren't that bad. They would point you to schools that have done wonderful things in Houston and Dallas. This "Texas Miracle", however, turned out to be a Texas mirage. Enron-style accounting practices turning out 100% completion rates and cheating on the TAKS test by school districts and students have reached such alarming proportions that out of state companies have been called in to investigate the allegations.

There will be a detailed post on Monday about the shortcomings of the current HB 2 and 3 being considered in the current special session, so I won't go too much into detail here on it. That being said, the clear winners in HB 3 are business interest and insurance companies. They businesses don't have their burden raised outside of a few inconsequential loop holes being closed while whole segments of the economy have no tax burden what-so-ever. The insurance companies get a huge tax cut. I guess their investment in TAB (a pro-business political action committee) is paying off. The rich also make out in HB 3 with a cut in their property taxes. Those in the middle and lower classes get taken to the cleaners in several ways.

First there is the raise the sales tax. This would give Texas the highest sales tax in the country. Also, those with the "vices" of smoking and drinking will see prices on cigarettes and alcohol go up as the taxes on these particular items go up as far as three-fold.

In addition folks in the middle and lower classes get shafted on accessibility to education and quality of education. These bills do raise teacher salaries, but by a paltry sum. The best teachers our state has to offer are going to pack up and move to a state that will pay them what they are worth. Also, these bills do nothing to reign in the sky rocketing cost of tuition. The University of Texas system has seen tuition cost go up 37% since deregulation and Texas A&M has seen tuition prices go up four time the rate of inflation in one year. With combination of higher tuition prices and higher taxes on the middle and lower class, you have tuition prices going up, while family income is going down. These two conditions make it less and less possible for families to send their children to college. Couple that with the lower quality of education and you get a system where students can't afford to go to a state college and they aren't competitive for out of state colleges. This will begin a downward spiral that will squeeze the middle class to the brink of extinction with no hope of upward mobility.

That's my take on it....what do you readers think?

Posted by Damon McCullar at July 23, 2005 01:42 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Isn't this Perry's sixth special session?

3 redistricting
3 school finance reform

Posted by: Jobu at July 23, 2005 10:20 PM

This is only the second called session this year for school finance. But it certainly seems like the 3rd.

Posted by: Karl-T at July 24, 2005 04:01 AM

According to the this reference that I used for the post, Education Reform has been included in every Called Session of the 78th and 79th Legislature. These proclamations include reforms for public education, both content and finance, and higher education. I have updated my post with both the reference and my finding that all six special sessions (four from the 78th and two so far from the 79th Legislatures) have had something to do with education reform.

This is what I found in the proclamations:

78th Lege 1st Called Session:
#Directing the Texas Coordinating Board for Higher Education to review the organization and operation of each university system office. [Tue Jul 1, 2003]

78th Lege 2nd Called Session:
#Relating to state fiscal management, including adjustments to certain school district fiscal matters made necessary by recent changes in state fiscal management; making related appropriations. [Mon Jul 28, 2003

78th Lege 3rd Called Session:
#Relating to state fiscal management, including adjustments to certain school district fiscal matters made necessary by recent changes in state fiscal management; making related appropriations [Tue Sep 9, 2003]

78th Lege 4th Called Session:
# Closing loopholes in the franchise tax and dedicating the revenue from closing the loopholes to the Educational Excellence Fund and for school property tax relief for taxpayers [Thu Apr 15, 2004]
# Creating an Educational Excellence Fund to provide incentive funding, funding to maintain and enhance equity, and greater funding to address the needs of students with limited English proficiency [Thu Apr 15, 2004]
# Education reforms and property tax reduction proposals that benefit the school children and property tax payers of Texas [Thu Apr 15, 2004]

79th Lege 1st Called Session:
# Charter school funding and reform. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Establish indicators of college readiness and higher levels of student achievement in the public school accountability system. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Fund textbooks and create the instructional materials allotment for public schools. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Funding for the public school finance system and the continuation of the Texas Education Agency. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Increased accountability and intervention for schools failing to meet state standards. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Local property tax rate compression and voter approval of local property tax rates. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Modifications to the recapture provisions of the public school finance system. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Performance-based incentives to educators and schools that attain higher levels of student achievement. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Provide for November elections for public school boards of trustees. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Provide for public school financial accountability and increase transparency in school district financial reporting. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Providing for end-of-course examinations to be used in public schools. [Sat Jun 18, 2005]
# Limitation of ad valorem tax rates of certain taxing units. [Tue Jun 21, 2005]
# Legislation and a constitutional amendment to increase the homestead ad valorem tax exemption. [Mon Jun 27, 2005]
# Legislation to provide ad valorem tax relief and protect taxpayers. [Mon Jun 27, 2005]

79th Lege 2nd Called Session:
# Increase the homestead ad valorem tax exemption. [Wed Jul 20, 2005]
# Limiting the ad valorem tax appraisals and rates of certain taxing units. [Wed Jul 20, 2005]
# Providing ad valorem tax relief and protecting taxpayers. [Wed Jul 20, 2005]
# Address educator compensation, benefits and certification. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# Charter school funding and reform. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# Funding for the public school finance system and the continuation of the Texas Education Agency. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
Increased accountability and intervention for schools failing to meet state standards. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# Legislation that establishes indicators of college readiness and higher levels of student achievement in the public school accountability system. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# Legislation that funds textbooks and creates the instructional materials allotment for public schools. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# Local property tax rate compression and voter approval of local property tax rates. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# Modifications to the recapture provisions of the public school finance system. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# November elections for public school boards of trustees. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# Providing for performance-based incentives to educators and schools that attain higher levels of student achievement. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# Providing for public school financial accountability and increasing transparency in school district financial reporting. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
# The authorization, issuance and funding of tuition revenue bonds. [Thu Jul 21, 2005]
#Legislation providing for end-of-course examinations to be used in public schools. [Thu Jul 21, 2005

Posted by: Damon McCullar at July 24, 2005 07:34 AM

News, Politics, and Fun From Deep in the Heart of Texas

July 23, 2005

Texas Education Crisis

By Damon McCullar