[CSPS] local column

Fri Dec 3 11:18:15 CST 2004

fyi

December 3, 2004

Legislature to blame for high taxes
Bryan-College Station Eagle
By MARC CHALOUPKA
Special to The Eagle

Consolidating the College Station and Bryan school districts as proposed by 
Ron Blatchley 
(<http://www.theeagle.com/opinions/guestcommentators/120104blatchley.php>Eagle, 
Dec. 1) is not a new idea. It has been promoted numerous times in the past 
and most recently by state Sen. Steve Ogden and now Ron Blatchley, former 
Bryan mayor and business leader.

If it were that simple, school districts across the state  including 
College Station  would not have brought suit and District Judge John Dietz 
would not have ruled that the state funding system is broken and needs to 
be replaced by October 2005.

I would like to correct a few statements Blatchley made. The College 
Station school district is a Chapter 41 school district for the simple fact 
that the property values within our district exceeds the per pupil 
expenditure set by the state. The state allows us to tax property at the 
maximum rate of $1. 50 per $100 of value for the operation and maintenance 
of our schools. Almost half  48 percent  of all districts in the state 
have a property tax at the state maximum. In other words, College Station 
is just one of approximately 494 school districts in 2003-2004 that taxed 
at the maximum rate.

Furthermore, 691 districts were taxing at or within 5 cents of the cap in 
2003-2004. These districts educate 81 percent of Texas public school students.

Blatchley stated that the district turns over $1 million to the Bryan 
school district annually. For the 2002-03 school year, the College Station 
district sent $943,402 to Bryan. It is projected that $4,481,000 will be 
sent for the 2003-04 and $7,458,425 for the 2004-05 school years. Please be 
aware that of these amounts, Bryan only receives less than 10 percent new 
dollars to educate the community students. The rest replaces some state 
support. These amounts will continue to grow as long as property values 
increase beyond our student enrollment.

Regarding the issue of consolidating school districts, I would ask 
Blatchley if it is so cost effective, why, as mayor of Bryan, was he not 
able to convince the taxpayers of the efficiencies and savings that could 
be recovered by joining the communities?

The Bryan and College Station school districts do work together on many 
issues to cut costs for the taxpayers of our communities. We have joint 
agreements on purchasing  the two cities are also included  and on 
professional development and training. We are always researching and 
implementing any means possible to make the best use our educational 
resources.

We, as school board members, have met with our legislators and government 
agencies to explain that we have considered consolidation. We have 
determined that we could save the cost of at least one staff member, the 
superintendent, but we would still need the same bus drivers, custodians, 
teachers, principles, secretaries, cafeteria staff and professionals to 
address special needs students as well as administrative staff to oversee 
curriculum, personnel and budget.

The superintendent of a large consolidated district might demand a larger 
salary and additional support staff. As a business leader, Blatchley should 
understand that sometimes it takes more staff to oversee numerous 
operations versus a single facility.

So what is the issue of school finance? Over the years, the state has 
allowed more and more of the cost of education  more than $40 billion  to 
fall on the backs of the local communities through property taxes. 
Legislators then capped the rate at which school districts can tax.

State tax dollars for education have been spent on prisons, increased 
health care, economic development, transportation and other areas that 
lawmakers felt were more important than education of the students of Texas. 
Along the way the Legislature and the state leadership has tied the hands 
of local communities with mandates as to when school should start, how and 
what is tested, when a student may be promoted, increased graduation 
requirements and what our children should eat in our school cafeterias. 
School districts have not received any additional funding for these and 
other mandates made by the state.

In addition, the state has joined the federal “No Child Left Behind” 
program which adds to the burden with additional standards that schools 
must meet to maintain federal funding.

No one wants to have the courts running our schools. We must put the blame 
on the shoulders of the elected officials who are charged by the state 
Constitution to fund public education. It is time to demand that the system 
be fixed permanently so that it is a fair and dedicated system that will 
not have to be reviewed and litigated every legislative session.

If consolidation were the answer and it were as easy as Blatchley stated, 
then 1,031 school districts in the state of Texas would have consolidated 
into super districts a long time ago. The result might be cookie cutter 
schools that all look like Wal-Mart and McDonald’s and a lot less local 
control.

I ask that everyone please take the time to read the findings of District 
Judge John Dietz to gain a better understanding as to why the courts are 
involved in the education of the students of Texas. Then contact state Rep. 
Fred Brown, state Sen. Steve Ogden and other leaders to do what is right 
for our children, not what is politically correct and along party lines. It 
is time that we had statesmen overseeing the future of Texas.

• Marc Chaloupka is president of the College Station School Board.

http://www.theeagle.com/opinions/guestcommentators/120304chaloupka.php

Jonathan Coopersmith
Associate Professor
Dept. of History
MS 4236
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas  77843
979.845.7148
979.862.4314 fax

Secretary
History & Philosophy of Science Section (L)
American Association for the Advancement of Science
aaas.org 
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