Thursday, July 21, 2005
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Time ran out for school finance legislation Wednesday, so Gov. Rick Perry ordered lawmakers to try yet again to pass education and tax bills that face staunch opposition from teachers, businesses and school districts.
Senate Democrats killed the measure favored by GOP leaders with parliamentary tactics, including a two-hour filibuster. To pass, it had to be approved by the House and Senate before midnight, the official end of the special session that began 30 days ago.
DallasNews.com/extra
Chat transcript: Schools and taxes
More School Finance
A companion tax-swap bill suffered a similar fate, abandoned in the final days of the session because of an impasse between House and Senate leaders over how to tax consumers, smokers and businesses.
Mr. Perry said that tired, frustrated lawmakers would be called into another special session – their second of the year and sixth since 2003 – starting this morning. And, he warned, they would stay in session until the bills are sent to his desk.
"Education reform and property tax relief are the two most significant issues the Legislature faces," he said."Lawmakers won't leave Austin until both priorities are addressed."
In the Senate, parliamentary objections from Democrats – a tactic known as "chubbing" – helped stall debate long enough that the Senate's longest-serving member, Democrat John Whitmire of Houston, could hold the floor until midnight and talk the bill to death.
"This bill has united people like no other school finance bill before. It has united Democrats and Republicans in opposition to this bill," said Mr. Whitmire, whose filibuster was his first in 22 years. "It has united teachers, school superintendents, PTA leaders, school janitors and bus drivers in opposition."
Mr. Whitmire objected to the bill because of its provisions and because it was being rushed through while lawmakers knew they would be starting another session today, he said.
Several House members wandered into the Senate chamber, wondering whether the maneuvering there would make it a waste of their time to work on the measure.
"A filibuster may be the most merciful way to end this," said one House Republican.
Mr. Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick were already looking to strategy for the next session.
"We will start a lot further along than we were 30 days ago," Mr. Dewhurst said after a private meeting with the other top leaders. "When you look back at the history of the Legislature over the last decade, it has been very tough to pass school finance bills.
"But we have made really big progress, so we will be able to conclude both of these matters during the next special session."
After House and Senate negotiators finally released their compromise Tuesday, school districts and education groups began bombarding lawmakers with e-mails and phone calls, urging rejection of the proposal.
Teacher groups were upset about the pay raise and a proposal for bonuses based on student test scores. School districts complained bitterly that the $2.4 billion in new money over two years hardly covers inflation and would mostly be consumed by new mandates from the state.
The companion tax bill would trade billions of dollars in school property tax reductions for higher state taxes on consumers, smokers and some businesses.
'Slow things down'
Dallas Democratic Sen. Royce West, another critic of the school finance proposal, said it didn't make sense to force it through the Legislature when those who will live under its requirements are almost universally opposed.
"It won't hurt to slow things down a little bit," said Mr. West, one of two Senate negotiators on the school finance bill who refused to support the compromise. The only other Democrat among the 10 lawmakers who brokered the deal, Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, also declined to sign on.
While some have suggested waiting until the Texas Supreme Court rules on a school finance lawsuit filed by hundreds of districts, including Dallas, Mr. Perry scoffed at that idea.
"It is important for us to get this work done. This isn't something for the courts to do, it is something for the Legislature to do," he said.
Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who is running against Mr. Perry in next year's GOP gubernatorial primary, said the Legislature's failure to overhaul school finance in the last several years proves Mr. Perry "is no leader."
Mr. Perry retorted: "To take a broadside like that at every member of this Legislature is irresponsible."
Pay raises blasted
While sponsors touted the school finance bill for providing new money for schools and enacting a battery of needed education changes, opponents said it would do little to improve public schools.
"One bad bill down, one to go," said an e-mail sent by the Texas Federation of Teachers that urged its members to voice their opposition to the school finance measure.
The group called the proposed pay raise "measly" and an "insult to Texas teachers."
Teachers would be guaranteed $1,000 apiece under the proposal – an average 2.5 percent raise – this fall. An additional $500 per teacher would be allocated to school districts, but districts would decide whether to give that money to each teacher or use it for merit pay to reward certain educators.
Leaders of the state's major teacher organizations noted that the $1,000 raise includes $500 that was taken away in 2003 because of a massive revenue shortfall that forced budget cuts across state government.
Next year, the bill would provide no money for another across-the-board raise, but districts would get an extra $500 per teacher for incentive pay programs.
Documents showing how much school districts would receive under the legislation – which often are the key deciding factor for lawmakers' votes – only fueled opposition.
Many poor districts would receive close to a 3 percent boost, the minimum increase that lawmakers promised. The Dallas school district would see its funding increase 4 percent by the 2006-07 school year, while the Highland Park would receive a 9 percent increase.
The additional money projected for Highland Park schools and other property-rich districts is the result of new limits that the bill proposes in Robin Hood revenue sharing by those districts.
"I cannot vote for something that is going to increase the gap between the very wealthiest districts and all the other districts," said Ms. Van de Putte, whose Senate district includes several poorer school districts.
Florence Shapiro, lead Senate negotiator on the proposal, has insisted that it does far more than courts have ordered to equalize funding between rich and poor districts.
"This bill provides more equity in school funding than this state has ever seen," the Plano Republican said.
Staff writers Robert T. Garrett and Christy Hoppe contributed to this report.
E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com
SPENDING REAUTHORIZED
The House voted Wednesday to send Gov. Rick Perry a bill restoring the $33.6 billion education budget he vetoed when he called lawmakers into special session last month. The move had been intended to help force the House and Senate to reach a deal on school finance and property tax overhaul, but one of the few bills both chambers passed was to reauthorize the spending Mr. Perry cut. It's unclear whether Mr. Perry will sign the measure, but it passed both chambers with enough votes to override another veto. Also, provisions in state law allow for the money to be spent regardless, so schools are certain to open on time.
SCHOOL FUNDING CHANGES
House Bill 2, a form of which is likely to arise in subsequent special sessions, would guarantee a funding increase of about 4 percent over two years. A look at how area districts would fare in 2007 under current law and under House Bill 2:
District Fiscal 2007 revenue per student under current law* Fiscal 2007 revenue per student under HB2* Percentage change
Highland Park $5,768 $ 6,285 8.96%
Cedar Hill $5,477 $ 5,933 8.33%
Celina $5,962 $ 6,438 7.98%
Grand Prairie $5,914 $ 6,350 7.37%
Red Oak $5,712 $ 6,111 6.99%
Arlington $5,552 $ 5,928 6.77%
Wylie $5,313 $ 5,670 6.72%
Birdville $5,801 $ 6,189 6.71%
Lancaster $5,849 $ 6,240 6.68%
Mansfield $5,521 $ 5,877 6.45%
Garland $5,684 $ 6,047 6.39%
Duncanville $5,942 $ 6,318 6.33%
Mesquite $5,777 $ 6,131 6.13%
Lake Dallas $5,584 $ 5,920 6.02%
Irving $5,919 $ 6,275 6.01%
Azle $5,728 $ 6,071 5.99%
DeSoto $5,745 $ 6,087 5.95%
Keller $5,248 $ 5,558 5.91%
McKinney $5,509 $ 5,820 5.66%
Royse City $5,910 $ 6,240 5.58%
Fort Worth $6,236 $ 6,555 5.12%
White Settlement $4,972 $ 5,220 4.99%
Midlothian $5,755 $ 6,037 4.88%
Richardson $6,119 $ 6,392 4.46%
Ennis $6,304 $ 6,583 4.41%
Everman $6,317 $ 6,591 4.34%
Frisco $5,745 $ 5,992 4.32%
Allen $5,455 $ 5,689 4.27%
Denton $6,359 $ 6,628 4.23%
Lewisville $6,224 $ 6,487 4.23%
Plano $6,179 $ 6,440 4.22%
Carrollton-FB $6,529 $ 6,804 4.21%
Northwest $7,327 $ 7,635 4.20%
Coppell $5,838 $ 6,079 4.13%
Carroll $5,951 $ 6,194 4.08%
Hurst-Euless-Bedford $5,987 $ 6,231 4.06%
Wilmer-Hutchins $6,540 $ 6,804 4.04%
Dallas $6,766 $ 7,039 4.03%
Grapevine-Colleyville $5,993 $ 6,232 3.99%
Rockwall $6,447 $ 6,704 3.99%
*Includes only state and local revenue sources.
SOURCE: Texas Legislature
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/072105dntexschoolfinance.281c5f1.html
No comments:
Post a Comment