Schools PAC targets legislators

Upset by finance plan, parents, advocates say they'll influence races

08:31 PM CDT on Friday, July 22, 2005

By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – A group of former PTA leaders and public school advocates, upset over the Legislature's handling of school finance, has launched a political action committee that plans to get involved in as many as 20 key legislative races next year, organizers of the PAC said Friday.

Carolyn Boyle and other board members said they hope to raise at least $250,000 from parents and other supporters of public schools who are concerned about lawmakers' support for public education. The political donations will be contributed to Democratic and Republican candidates, they said.

"There are no good excuses for the failure by the Legislature to meet the needs of 4.4 million students enrolled in Texas public schools," Ms. Boyle said at a news conference near the Capitol.

Representatives of the PAC said they are opposed to the school finance and education reform bill that the Legislature was poised to approve on Wednesday before it was killed by a Senate filibuster that ended the last special session. Lawmakers began a new special session on Thursday, and the same school finance bill is expected to go before the House and Senate within the next two weeks.

Virtually every school district and education group in Texas is opposed to the legislation, primarily because it provides only a small increase in funding for schools. That new money – $2.4 billion over two years – represents an annual increase of about 1.8 percent.

School districts have complained the new money won't even cover inflation and is a fraction of what a state judge cited in his ruling last year that called the current school finance system unconstitutional. That decision was appealed by the state to the Texas Supreme Court, which has not yet ruled.

Lawmakers are scheduled to continue work on the school finance bill on Monday.

The Web site for Texas Parent PAC is www.txparentpac.com.

E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com
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