Author: suem

Gov. Greg Abbott continues to claim that voucher opponents, not him, were responsible for killing additional funding for public schools last year. But educators in those schools, which are now suffering serious budgetary shortfalls, know better. The governor can lie and try to mislead all he wants, but the truth remains that he – Greg Abbott – killed the school funding bill.

Given the opportunity, every member of the Texas House of Representatives likely would have voted for additional public education funding and higher pay for school employees during the last special session of 2023.

But once a House majority voted to remove the governor’s taxpayer-funded private school voucher plan from the funding bill, the measure was pulled down and never came to a vote. It never came to a vote because Abbott had vowed to kill any additional funding for public schools without the tax giveaway for private schools.

Abbott also blames schools’ financial problems on the pending expiration of the federal COVID relief funds and declining enrollments. Those are contributing factors for some districts, but the governor’s blatant refusal to increase the public education budget at a time when the state was flush with $33 billion of surplus cash is the main reason many schools are now struggling and preparing to cut programs and lay off teachers and other employees.

The governor also tries to confuse people by claiming that his failure to allow lawmakers to increase the annual basic student allotment of $6,160 for school districts is “misleading.”

“The average funding per student actually exceeds $12,000,” he said in a recent news release. But that is nothing to brag about.

According to the National Education Association’s latest analysis of Texas school finance data, the average spending per student in average daily attendance in Texas is now $12,781, but this is $5,220 less per student than the national average and ranks Texas 46th among the states and the District of Columbia, almost scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Only someone as anti-public education as Greg Abbott would be proud of that.

And what about that basic student allotment of $6,160, which Abbott doesn’t seem to think is very important?

The basic allotment is the foundation of Texas’ complex school finance system. Other formula funding, based on factors that vary among school districts, is added to that to determine each district’s actual per-student allotment of funds.

The basic allotment hasn’t been increased since 2019, and school finance experts say it would take an increase of at least $1,000 simply to help school districts catch up with inflationary increases in their programs. An extra $1,000 in the basic allotment would increase Texas’ average spending per student to close to $14,000, a significant step in the right direction.

The governor of Texas should understand that, but this governor obviously doesn’t care.

Clay Robison

We already knew that Gov. Greg Abbott has a problem understanding that his constitutional duty to provide for public education doesn’t include promoting a multi-billion-dollar tax giveaway for private schools.

We also knew that Abbott has a problem with the truth. Most recently, during his GOP primary campaign to purge the Texas House of the Republicans who helped kill his voucher plan last year, he and his pro-voucher allies wrongly accused his targets of killing additional funding for public schools.

Abbott himself, of course, was responsible for killing the additional funding because of his vow not to increase state funding for public education without approval of a voucher plan, which he did not get.

Now that Democratic lawmakers are urging him to call a special session to provide the extra funding that is desperately needed by school districts fighting budget deficits, the governor’s problem with the truth has erupted again.

Now, he is blaming schools’ budgetary problems on local issues and the pending expiration of federal pandemic funding. Those issues are secondary. The main problem is Abbott’s refusal to approve increased state funding for public schools without a voucher program – even with a record, $33 billion state budget surplus.

“You’ll be shocked to hear this, but it’s not me that ‘s responsible for this (school funding crisis),” Abbott said, as reported by KXAN-TV and the Nexstar network.

No, I am not shocked to hear Abbott’s denial. It is what he does – deny blame and ignore the truth.

Liar is a strong word. But how do you have any confidence in a governor who, out of sheer political spite, creates an emergency for public schools, then denies any responsibility and wrongly shifts the blame?

Clay Robison

This is Teacher Appreciation Week, a few days of cheap freebies from fast food joints and other businesses working to increase their customers while giving educators some well-deserved attention.

That’s the commercial version anyway, and it is certainly better than the political version from hypocritical officeholders issuing hollow plaudits with one hand while slapping teachers with the other. Not all politicians fall into that category, but those that do – people like Gov. Greg Abbott and his legislative allies — really stink.

I haven’t seen a Teacher Appreciation Week message from Abbott yet this year. Maybe I missed it, or maybe he figured out it was pointless, but here is last year’s message:

“Texas teachers play a vital role in shaping the Texas of tomorrow. We thank them for all they do as they educate the future of our state – our students.”

That message was issued in May of 2023, in the middle of a year in which the Legislature – in one regular session and four special sessions – failed to use one penny of a record, $33 billion budget surplus to increase funding for teacher pay or public school classrooms.

Why? If you must be reminded, it was because the Legislature also failed to enact Abbott’s real education priority, a voucher plan that soon would have diverted billions of tax dollars from underfunded public schools to private schools. So, Abbott, in a snit fit, kept his vow not to increase public school funding, creating serious budgetary problems for many districts and, in some cases, putting educator jobs in jeopardy.

The real purpose of Teacher Appreciation Week is to recognize and thank teachers for their dedication and hard work in educating all students who come their way and, to the best of their ability and resources, preparing those students for successful futures. All students means all students, including those with gender identities whom Abbott has chosen to harass and bully.

Appreciation means more than free donuts, two-for-one chicken wings or half-price hamburger combos, for which many teachers doubtlessly are grateful. Appreciation also means higher pay for teachers and school support staff and more resources for their classrooms, all of which has eroded under Abbott’s watch, while political attacks on educators have grown.

According to the National Education Association’s latest national survey of financial support of public schools and educators, the average teacher pay in Texas is now more than $9,000 less than the national average, and Texas spending per student in average daily attendance is more than $5,000 less.

The teacher pay deficit has increased by about $3,000 since Abbott became governor, and the per-student funding gap by more than $2,000.

Does Abbott appreciate teachers – or public education? What do you think?

Clay Robison

State Education Commissioner Mike Morath was flippant to the point of being disrespectful when, in an appearance before the State Board of Education, he blamed school districts for the rising number of uncertified teachers entering the profession.

Morath claimed that districts had given up on hiring certified teachers and had moved to “hiring people off the street…It’s as if district leaders say, ‘You have a heartbeat. Come o in.’”

Not only is Morath a bad comedian, if that is what he was trying to be, he also is a bad education commissioner. To him, student scores on STAAR tests are the essence of public education, and charter school regulation means giving charter chains as many campuses as they want. And he consults with teachers about as often as a total solar eclipse visits Austin.

According to the Texas Education Agency’s latest report, dated last month, only 34 percent of the latest batch of new Texas teachers are certified. That is not the fault of school districts.

Partly this is the fault of state government – and that includes Commissioner Morath – creating additional, alternative pathways by which would-be teachers can enter the classroom without credentials and little preparation.

A huge share of the blame though belongs to the guy who hired Morath. That would be Gov. Greg Abbott, who probably has driven off more teachers than the pandemic with his political attacks on educators, his endorsement of book bans, his support for private school vouchers and his refusal to increase public school funding, including for higher teacher pay.

Even with a record $33 billion budget surplus, Abbott slammed the door on public schools last year in an effort to win a voucher plan that would have diverted billions of tax dollars to private schools within a few years. Failing that, he then spent millions of dollars spreading lies against pro-public education Texas House members in the recent Republican primary and succeeded in replacing six of them, so far, with pro-voucher candidates with little interest in public education.

Meanwhile, budget-strapped school districts have been left doing their best to replace and retain thousands of good, experienced teachers for what many educators have come to view as a thankless job.

And Morath, the education commissioner, pooh-poohs their efforts.

Texas needs a better education commissioner, a real education commissioner. But we are not going to get one until we get a better governor. Right now, we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel in both positions.

Clay Robison