By Gary Scharrer Austin Bureau
School districts ready for financial reform
AUSTIN All Texas school districts will get a state funding increase of at least $120 per student this fall but superintendents already are dialing up talk about another school finance lawsuit to remedy what appears to be a chronic inequity between districts.
Across the state school superintendents say the distribution of resources is less equitable today than it was four years ago when a lawsuit resulted in the Texas Supreme Court rejecting the public school funding system.
One of the hardest hit school systems in the Houston area is the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School district which stands to get anywhere from $222 to $1196 less per student than neighboring school districts.
Per student disparity
Four years ago when the Texas Supreme Court rejected the public school funding system many districts had reached the maximum property tax rate allowable which in effect created an unconstitutional statewide property tax.
What parents of children need to understand is that the funding of public education is in serious condition" said John Folks superintendent of San Antonios Northside Independent School District the fourth largest in Texas.
The Edgewood Independent School District in Bexar County lead plaintiff in a 1984 landmark school funding lawsuit which the state lost stands to get $1239 less per student than Alamo Heights.
The disparity can result in tens of thousands of dollars per classroom and many millions of dollars per district.
This is a very very unfair distribution of dollars for school districts. Some school districts are getting way more than they should and other districts are getting way less than they should. Thats just not palatable" said Randall Buck Wood an Austin lawyer and school-funding expert who has represented school districts in previous cases.
The Texas Constitution requires the Legislature to fund an efficient" public school system because that preserves the liberties and rights of the people."
The current system is irrational Wood said adding Anything that is irrational by definition cant be an efficient system."
Staying at the bottom
Fast-growing Cy-Fair ISD which receives less money per student than most other Houston-area school districts cut 400 positions and $27 million last year.
Those who were on the bottom are pretty much still on the bottom" Superintendent David Anthony said of the school-spending plan. But state academic standards have not gone down nor have expectations and mandates Anthony said.
Among neighboring districts Cy-Fair will get $1196 less per student than Tomball ISD; $587 less per student than Katy ISD; $507 less per student than Houston ISD; $504 less per student than Spring Branch; $246 less per student than Spring ISD and $222 less per student than Klein ISD.
Anthony recently made a controversial recommendation to reduce or eliminate the districts cherished 20 percent optional homestead exemption in effect since 1983 which comes on top of the constitutionally guaranteed homestead exemption of $15000. The proposal is expected to be discussed at a board meeting this week.
While the exemption cost Cy-Fair millions of dollars a year Anthony said his district is hurt under the states funding system whether it grants the tax break or not.
It does seem to make a lot of sense when you look at the equity issue" he said. Its not efficient. Its not equitable. It seems in many cases that those who were doing better are better off and those who are doing worse are maybe worse off."
Cypress-Fairbanks will have about 104000 students this fall making it the third largest school district in the state. The district expanded by more than 4000 students this year.
