Grading Texas

As Texas schools reopen next week, some with fewer educators than they employed last spring and most struggling with budgetary problems, it is a good time to remember that the federal government is ready to help ease the pain. The emergency jobs bill that President Obama signed last week includes $830 million for educators’ jobs in Texas.

All Gov. Perry has to do is quit conjuring up politically inspired reasons for opposing the money and apply for it. Maybe he will, particularly if school board members, superintendents, teachers and parents start bombarding his office with phone calls and emails demanding that he do so.

And, if you want some extra incentive for making a call, click on the link at the end of this post. It provides an estimated breakdown of how much each district can expect to receive from the emergency pot. The list, prepared by Moak, Casey & Associates, has been making the rounds and already is posted on TSTA’s Facebook page. If you haven’t already seen it, it is worth a look.

Houston ISD stands to gain an estimated $66.7 million; Dallas ISD, $52.2 million; San Antonio ISD, $21.1 million; and Austin ISD, almost $17.5 million. Even a smaller district, such as San Angelo ISD, would receive an estimated $2.6 million.

The money won’t solve the state’s basic school finance problems. Only the Legislature, the governor and (most likely) some sensible judges can do that. But the money will help school districts pay for educators’ jobs at a particularly crucial time.

The money is fully funded by offsets in other parts of the federal budget. So, it doesn’t add to the federal deficit.

There are a couple of things, however, that the money is not.

First, it is not intended to allow a school district to hire an assistant gofer for the superintendent or a new Director of Innovative Innovation. It is not for the central office. It is for educators’ jobs at the campus level.

And, second, it is not designed to enrich teachers’ unions, despite the ranting of a rightwing columnist I read this week. The money is designed to save educators’ jobs, and it is coming (to Texas, we hope) just in time for a new school year.

http://www.moakcasey.com/articles/viewarticledoc.aspx?EID=e71cb423cb294a51b01eb9059f86ae1c&AID=1683&DID=1828

I am not a historian, but, as you may have noticed by now, I do have opinions. And, in my view, the last giant to occupy the White House was a former school teacher from Texas.

No, I haven’t forgotten Ronald Reagan. He had his moments (including a role in the breakup of the Evil Empire), but Lyndon B. Johnson’s legacy still towers above those of any of his successors. It is a legacy, interestingly enough, that some of his successors have spent a lot of time trying to dismantle.

Bob Ray Sanders, in a fine column in today’s Fort Worth StarTelegram (linked below), reminds us that next week (Aug. 27) would have been LBJ’s 102nd birthday. Time does fly, especially for a former, thenyoung reporter (not Bob Ray) who covered one of LBJ’s last speeches as president many years ago in San Antonio.

Johnson’s legacy may stem as much from the period during which he was on center stage as from his own strong personality and ability. Except for the Vietnam War, he was the right president at the right time. Vietnam was a horrible mistake that needlessly killed and maimed thousands of my generation, but untold millions of Americans have benefited from the historic legislation that LBJ championed in civil rights, welfare and education.

Joined for the ceremony by his first school teacher, Johnson signed the first federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act on April 11, 1965, in a ceremony on the front lawn of an old schoolhouse in the Texas Hill Country. It was the first federal law to provide general aid to education and focused mainly on disadvantaged children. Unlike its more recent successors, Johnson’s ESEA attempted to create a level education field for all school children, not a competitive, highstakes environment in which only the fittest are supposed to survive.

That same year, he signed a landmark Higher Education Act, which provided financial assistance for lowerincome students.

I’m not sure if Johnson, the school teacher, was ever a member of TSTA. Many of his classroom peers were, even then.

http://www.startelegram.com/2010/08/17/2409739/revisionistsattempttotarnish.html

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.