Grading Texas

Giving credit where credit is due, I am pleased to report that voters in Allen ISD in North Texas approved an increase in their local school taxes to help rehire some teachers and help the district avoid further classroom cuts. (Actually, the Allen American did the real reporting, and I am passing it on.)

I wrote about the pending tax ratification election (TRE) in this fastgrowing, suburban Dallas district a couple of weeks ago because this is the same district that received national publicity after local voters approved a $119 million bond issue two years ago to build, among other things, a $60 million football stadium. I wondered if the same voters would be as willing to pay higher taxes for classrooms as they did for football.

They were.

Nearly 61 percent of the voters turning out in the TRE voted for a school board proposal to raise the district maintenance and operations tax rate by 13 cents, from the current $1.04 per $100 valuation to the state maximum of $1.17. Combined with the district’s 50cent tax for bonded interest, this will give local taxpayers a combined school tax rate of $1.67.

Allen ISD, which will lose $21 million in state funding over the next two years because of the budget slashing performed by Gov. Perry and the legislative majority last spring, had already taken a number of costcutting steps. They included a salary freeze, staff reductions (including 44 teachers) and larger classes.

Now, according to the local newspaper, the district plans to restore some of the lost teaching positions and reduce class sizes. Although Allen is not a plaintiff, school officials said they will keep an eye on a school finance lawsuit filed against the state this week and will continue to try to communicate with local legislators, which will be a challenging task.

All the lawmakers from Collin County, in which Allen ISD is located, voted for the state spending reductions that have put the district in such a financial bind and prompted the latest local tax increase. The county also voted 64 percent last year to reelect Gov. Perry, the chief architect of the education budget cuts.

This time, though, Allen voters got it right. They voted for classrooms, kids and teachers.

Although Gov. Rick Perry will be in New Hampshire tonight, bragging (again) about his alleged job creation record in Texas, a less rosy but more realistic view of his commitment to longterm economic growth was spelled out in Austin this morning with the longawaited filing of the latest school finance lawsuit.

Perry’s performance in tonight’s Republican presidential debate (this one will focus on economic issues) may help determine how much longer the candidate from Paint Creek can keep his White House fantasy alive. After struggling in previous debates and plummeting in recent presidential polls, he will take credit for recent job growth in Texas, even though there is little evidence his tightfisted, anticonsumer, antieducation, antienvironment policies had anything to do with it. In fact, the deep budget cuts he orchestrated this year have cost untold thousands of government jobs, including in the public schools, and have tarnished the socalled Texas “miracle.”

There is a lot of evidence, however, that Perry’s tightfisted, antieducation policies (he slashed more than $5 billion from public school budgets during this biennium alone) are driving Texas’ public education system into a ditch, and that evidence will be made clear as the school finance litigation progresses.

The first lawsuit was filed this morning in state district court in Austin by the Texas Taxpayer and Student Fairness Coalition, a nonprofit group of school districts, students, parents and businesses organized by the Equity Center. Additional lawsuits against the state’s inequitable and inadequate school funding system are expected soon. By the time all are filed, several hundred school districts may be among the plaintiffs.

The success of these lawsuits will have a much greater impact on future job creation and economic growth in Texas than anything Rick Perry and his imagepolishers can conceive.

http://www.equitycenter.org/

More than our children’s academic opportunities are jeopardized by the budget cuts forced upon school districts by Gov. Rick Perry and the legislative majority. Our kids’ health and safety also are at risk.

Here are two examples coming to my attention. The first involves cafeteria workers in San Antonio ISD, and the second is about overcrowded school buses in Northeast ISD, another San Antonio district.

SAISD cafeteria workers are now required to double up as custodial workers, raising the threat of food contamination and serious illnesses being spread in the district’s cafeterias.

In addition to preparing and serving food, the food service employees also are cleaning and mopping the cafeterias and hauling garbage bags and trash bins to the dumpsters. They are doubling up because the budgetstrapped school district (that’s a redundant description these days) tried to save money by cutting custodial positions.

The San Antonio Alliance, TSTA’s local affiliate, has filed a grievance against the district on behalf of the workers, who also risk onthejob injuries for heavy lifting, pulling and pushing, which they didn’t sign on to perform

The most critical health risk, however, may involve the students who eat in the cafeterias each school day. With extra duties to perform, even the mostconscientious and careful cafeteria workers may occasionally get in too big of a hurry to perform adequate sanitation. And, SAISD may be one skipped handwashing away from a bunch of sick kids.

As outlined in the TV story linked below, buses in Northeast ISD are so crowded that some students have to sit on the floor, endangering their safety and even their lives in the event of an accident. Despite the pleas of parents and other safety advocates, the Legislature has never seen fit to order seat belts on most school buses, much less prohibit overcrowding. Districts were supposed to install belts on new buses, but the state cut the funding.

Now, heaven forbid, Northeast ISD is one bus wreck away from a potential disaster.

Budget cuts have reallife consequences, folks. The governor and legislative majority can pretend they don’t, but school employees – and school kids – know better.

From www.woai.com

Teachers and school kids continue to pay the price for the state budget cuts. Approximately 187 school districts, almost onefifth of the state’s total, have applied to the Texas Education Agency for waivers to the 221 class size limit in kindergarten through fourth grade. (An earlier version of this post said 204 districts, but TEA corrected the count this morning to 187. Some applications had earlier been counted twice.)

TEA can’t say if this is a record number, but it may very well be. It is a significant increase over the 168 districts requesting waivers in 201011 and the 144 districts filing requests in 20092010.

The district total tells only part of the story because some of the larger, fastestgrowing districts are seeking multiple waivers. According to a recent story in the San Antonio ExpressNews, for example, San Antonio’s Northside ISD alone wants waivers for 440 elementary classes, and there have been other media reports of districts with as many as 100 or more classes on their waiver lists. The bottom line is that thousands of K4 classes likely will exceed the 221 limit, although TEA hasn’t finished that count.

Many school boards and administrators have been trying for the past several years to get the Legislature to raise or abolish the cap, and they renewed their request this year, arguing they needed more local “flexibility” in the face of anticipated cuts in state funding.

But the cap is overwhelmingly popular with parents, who recognize its value in creating a strong educational environment for young students who need individual attention from their teachers. So, the Legislature technically left the 221 limit intact. Gov. Rick Perry and the legislative majority, who slashed $5.4 billion from the public education budget, simply passed the buck to local school districts. And, state Education Commissioner Robert Scott made it easier for districts to get 221 waivers by adding “financial hardship” as a new reason for exceeding the cap.

Historically, the TEA has rejected only one waiver request since 221 became law in 1984. And, there is little reason to expect waivers to be denied this year.

More waiver requests may be filed if districts experience enrollment increases during the school year, and, with them, even more students getting less of the individual attention they need for successful learning.