[CSPS] Warning, Will Robinson, danger!

[Jonathan Coopersmith]

Carlos Guerra: Lobbyists step up for the special 
school finance session in April



Web Posted: 03/19/2006 12:00 AM CST

San Antonio Express-News

The special session of the Legislature to fix 
Texas' school-funding system ­ declared 
unconstitutional in November ­ will convene April 
17, Gov. Rick Perry said last week. And on this, 
the fourth try, if lawmakers don't fix it by June 
1, it could be disastrous for Perry ­ who is 
headed into a four-way plurality election in November ­ and worse for kids.


There are passionate constituencies on all sides 
of this issue. Yes, our workforce's educational 
level will determine Texas' economic future. But 
it is also easy to see why property owners 
grumble about ever-rising property taxes.

Many public schools are excellent, and untold 
thousands of great teachers are producing 
outstanding students. But there is also no 
shortage of tales about bad schools, squandered 
public money and school boards that are well-oiled patronage machines.

At the same time, it is also hard to disagree 
with conscientious parents and educators who 
point out that woefully inadequate funding keeps 
Texas schools from providing today's kids with 
the educational programs needed to excel.

The current drive to overhaul the state-local 
funding mechanism that raises the $33 billion for 
schools started in the regular 2003 legislative 
session, where the effort finally died amid much 
acrimony. Perry called a special session to deal 
with the issue in 2004, but it was angrier and less productive.

Perry then advised lawmakers to seek consensus on 
a fix before the 2005 regular session, but that 
session came and went, and the only accord 
lawmakers reached was that they might find accord 
more easily if the state Supreme Court held a gun to their heads.

They got their wish in November when the justices 
found Texas' school funding system 
unconstitutional. But the ruling was very 
limited. Because so many school districts are 
taxing at the $1.50 maximum rate, the court 
ruled, an unconstitutional state property tax has 
been created, and school districts no longer have 
"meaningful discretion" in raising tax rates or 
spending on community priorities.

And if those things aren't fixed by June 1, the 
justices warned, state money will stop flowing to local districts.

Perry recruited former comptroller John Sharp, a 
Democrat, to head the Texas Tax Reform Commission 
­ a panel dominated by business types ­ and 
ordered it to put together "a revenue-neutral" 
package of tax-swaps to lower property tax rates 
and replace the lost revenue with other tax money.

The panel's report has not been released, but 
panel members say they will recommend lowering 
property taxes to $1 and replacing the money lost 
with new taxes on service providers, a 
gross-revenue tax on most corporations and 
raising the cigarette tax by $1 per pack.

And already, two new, heavily funded lobbying 
groups have formed to join the older trade groups 
that killed previous efforts to raise taxes on 
businesses. One new group consists of Texas' 
largest law firms and the other's membership is a 
who's who of the state's largest manufacturers.

As for the many parents, educators, 
administrators, school board members and 
progressive Texans who want Texas to go beyond 
smoke-and-mirrors tax-swaps and bogus high-stakes 
tests, and actually provide the money needed to 
make our public schools ­ and our students ­ 
competitive with other states, they too are 
coming together. But the Coalition to Invest in 
Public Schools' Web site is still under 
construction, as it has been for a while.

I wonder who will win this one?

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA031906.01B.guerra.2fca898.html

Jonathan Coopersmith
Associate Professor
Dept. of History
MS 4236
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas  77843
979.845.8584
979.862.4314 fax

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