Grading Texas

As they prepare to return to the classroom, teachers should take advantage of the taxfree, backtoschool weekend coming up this Friday through Sunday, Aug. 2022. That’s when the Legislature has waived the sales tax on school supplies and most clothing and footwear items priced at less than $100.

Most shopping malls and discount stores will be extracrowded, but the tax savings in most Texas cities will be worth more than 8 percent.

School kids and parents aren’t the only ones shopping for school supplies these days. Many teachers are too, and most won’t be reimbursed by their school districts for those expenses.

According to TSTA’s recent biennial survey on teacher moonlighting and morale, the average teacher spends $564 a year out of his or her own pocket on supplies and other schoolrelated expenses for which there is no reimbursement. Statewide, that’s an annual $186 million taxpayer subsidy.

That’s pretty generous for a group of educators whose average pay – 34th in the country – still lags several thousand dollars behind the national average.

Contrary to a widespread misconception, most of the returning teachers didn’t spend the summer hanging around the swimming pool either unless they were lifeguards. According to the same TSTA survey, more than half of them held summer jobs and a large number will moonlight during the school year to help make ends meet.

They deserve whatever tax breaks they can get.

For more information about the taxfree weekend, including what specific items are included, click on this link:

http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxpubs/tx98_490/tx98_490.html

Do the Republican members of Texas’ congressional delegation represent the best interests of school kids, their teachers and Texas taxpayers? I certainly have my opinion, but take a look at the following figures and judge for yourself.

This is a breakdown of the estimated amount of money that schools in each lawmaker’s district are expected to receive under the education jobs funding bill that each one of them voted against earlier this week. Also included are the estimated education jobs that potentially are at stake in each district. Thanks to overwhelming Democratic support, the bill passed and was quickly signed by President Obama. And, it was fully funded by offsets in other spending programs. So, it doesn’t add to the federal deficit.

As a whole, the state of Texas stands to gain $830 million and save 14,500 educators’ jobs – if Gov. Rick Perry’s political prancing against the bill doesn’t deprive Texas of its share.

These estimates were compiled by the National Education Association, based on federal funding formulas. Here is how much (in funding and jobs) each of the following members of Congress voted against for his or her district’s schools:

Louie Gohmert of Tyler, District 1 $20.3 million, 362 jobs.
Ted Poe of Humble, District 2 $14.6 million, 260 jobs.
Sam Johnson of Plano, District 3 $18.7 million, 332 jobs.
Ralph Hall of Rockwall, District 4 $16.9 million, 301 jobs.
Jeb Hensarling of Dallas, District 5 $16.1 million, 288 jobs.
Joe Barton of Ennis, District 6 $21.5 million, 383 jobs.
John Culberson of Houston, District 7 $10.1 million, 180 jobs.
Kevin Brady of The Woodlands, District 8 $16.6 million, 295 jobs.
Michael McCaul of Austin, District 10 $15.4 million, 274 jobs.
Michael Conaway of Midland, District 11 $20.8 million, 371 jobs.
Kay Granger of Fort Worth, District 12 $18.3 million, 325 jobs.
Mac Thornberry of Clarendon, District 13 $19.9 million, 355 jobs.
Ron Paul of Lake Jackson, District 14 $18.2 million, 325 jobs.
Lamar Smith of San Antonio, District 21 $14.1 million, 252 jobs.
Pete Olson of Sugar Land, District 22 $15.6 million, 278 jobs.
Kenny Marchant of Coppell, District 24 $14 million, 249 jobs.
Michael Burgess of Lewisville, District 26 $16.1 million, 287 jobs.
John Carter of Round Rock, District 31 $20.4 million, 363 jobs.
Pete Sessions of Dallas, District 32 $21.7 million, 387 jobs.

And, in lock step with the above bunch, Republican congressional candidate Bill Flores of Bryan, Democratic Rep. Chet Edwards’ challenger in District 17, already is attacking Edwards for doing the right thing – voting for the funding bill. Educators, meanwhile, are praising Edwards (at least they should be). The bill is worth $22.5 million and 401 jobs to District 17.

Both U.S. senators from Texas, Republicans Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, also voted against the funding.

Public education isn’t a partisan issue, or at least it shouldn’t be. But that is exactly what Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Texas Republicans in Congress are intent on making it. Texas’ public schools are substantially underfunded, and Texas educators are underpaid.

Yet, even in the face of an $18 billion state revenue shortfall next year, Perry snubs his nose at $830 million in additional federal funds to help save teacher jobs and assist school districts struggling with tight budgets. With other state Republican “leaders” chiming in, the governor says he doesn’t want to accept the money because it would commit the state to keep up its own share of funding for the public schools.

That’s a pretty weak rationale, when you think about it, about as weak as Perry’s commitment to school teachers and school kids. Perry also claimed the requirement was unconstitutional, but people with more legal expertise have pretty much shot down that argument.

Despite Perry and Texas’ Republican congressmen, the U.S. House today gave final approval to a $10 billion package of emergency education funding worth $830 million to our state, saving perhaps as many as 14,500 educator jobs here. The bill accomplishes that without adding to the federal deficit. It is fully funded by various budgetary offsets.

All the House Republicans from Texas (except Randy Neugebauer of Lubbock, who didn’t vote) voted against the bill. If you are an educator or a parent or a taxpayer who cares about the state of your public schools, remember their names: Joe Barton of Ennis (the BP apologist), Kevin Brady of The Woodlands, Michael Burgess of Lewisville, John Carter of Round Rock, Michael Conaway of Midland, John Culberson of Houston, Louie Gohmert of Tyler, Kay Granger of Fort Worth, Ralph Hall of Rockwall, Jeb Hensarling of Dallas, Sam Johnson of Plano, Kenny Marchant of Coppell, Michael McCaul of Austin, Pete Olson of Sugar Land, Ron Paul of Lake Jackson, Ted Poe of Humble, Pete Sessions of Dallas, Lamar Smith of San Antonio and Mac Thornberry of Clarendon.

Both U.S. Sens. from Texas, Republicans Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, already had voted against the bill when it was before the Senate last week.

All the House Democrats from Texas (except Ruben Hinojosa of Mercedes, who missed the vote but issued a statement endorsing the measure) voted for the bill. They are Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Lloyd Doggett of Austin, Chet Edwards of Waco, Al Green of Houston, Gene Green of Houston, Charlie Gonzalez of San Antonio, Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas, Solomon Ortiz of Corpus Christi, Silvestre Reyes of El Paso and Ciro Rodriguez of San Antonio.

Is the governor still going to try to snub the money?

Members of Congress vote. So do school teachers, and a very important election is drawing near.

Arizona’s sunstroke over immigration may soon exact a financial penalty from students in one of that state’s larger school districts.

Tom Horne, Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction, backed a new state law designed to ban ethnic studies in the state’s public schools. It was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer a few weeks after the state’s more widely publicized antiimmigration statute, and it stems from the same political phobia.

Now, Horne is threatening to withhold 10 percent of basic state aid from the Tucson Unified School District when the new law goes into effect Dec. 31, according to an article in Education Week.

The education law prohibits public schools from providing classes designed for a specific ethnic group, advocating ethnic solidarity or promoting resentment toward a race or group of people. Horne contends that the ban applies to ethnic studies courses offered at Tucson Unified, a claim denied by Tucson Unified, which intends to continue offering the classes.

Horne also asked the district to videotape all of its ethnic studies classes during the fall semester, a “Big Brother” intrusion that Sean Arce, the district’s director of Mexican American studies, also plans to ignore.

“The classroom is the domain of the teacher and student,” Arce said.

This controversy probably will simmer for a while, long enough to boost Horne’s conservative support for his campaign for the Republican nomination for Arizona attorney general.

His superintendent’s term expires at the end of the year. It is unfortunate, perhaps, for Arizonians that he is running for attorney general. Texans are fortunate, though, that he didn’t move here and run for our State Board of Education, where he probably would feel right at home.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/08/11/37arizona_ep.h29.html?tkn=ZPTF5z8CEYT5qb6NvlBDjukb6zKI6YUWWkOH&cmp=clpedweek