Texas Legislature Called to Special Session
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas If all school districts or ISDs took equal cuts it would have the consequence of causing the smaller and rural schools to have to cut real jobs and teachers while the larger and better funded districts will only be cutting programs and administration said State Representative Dan Flynn (R-Van) as the 1st Special Session began Tuesday. That difference is the one that sets the parameters of the discussion.
With the ending of the 82nd Regular Session for the Texas Legislature on Monday May 30 2011 Flynn said he plans to continue working towards a solution to the school formula issue that is the center of this session.
Representative Flynn voted against SB 1811 which was essentially the School Formula bill during the regular session.
Said Flynn of his vote I could not in good conscious vote for a bill that did not provide even a marginal improvement to our district in terms of equity and long-term funding solutions.
He went on to say it will take improvement to the bill and better outcomes for House District 2 before I can consider voting differently in the Special Session.
Many believe the bill seemed to be more about the status quo than finding real solutions to the funding dilemma.
The current debate in education comes from the 2006 school finance reform package that was a result of the Supreme Court decision ruling a statewide property tax unconstitutional. The solution crafted by the 79th Legislature was intended to be a short term solution that essentially reduced property taxes by 1/3 and dedicated more state money to schools.
It was believed that no one would suffer at the time and all thought that this was a good short term solution. However the formula has never changed and for some districts the plan in place was crafted when those districts were doing well
at the time and this made for an ideal solution for them that they were willing to maintain but many of the districts suffered inequities.
While it may have been a good solution for some it made for a bad long-term solution for many of the small and rural districts such as those schools in House District 2 who got much less over time in this deal widening the size of the inequity in funding.
Over time the formula which has continued for 5 years and has allowed some districts to expand greatly with non classroom spending and those districts have lived quite well. The smaller and rural districts have been ok but the funding choices given this session have made it paramount that many districts do not get the same cuts as those who have flourished as it would be inequitable for teachers and for classrooms.
Most believe that across the board cuts are a bad idea and those kind of cuts hurt rural and small district schools. The state cannot bring the underfunded schools down as children in well funded districts are not worth more than those in lower funded districts said Representative Flynn.
The ideal solution supported by many Superintendents and Teachers across the State is a new funding formula that treats students much more equally. However that solution is not on the table at this time. While currently not being offered the need for a better solution is becoming more urgent with the requirements of Obama Care. Obama Care could add between 10-14 billion dollars to the states required expenditures during the next legislative session.
We must work on the school funding formula and fix it before 2012 when the health spending will be such that education is estimated to be no longer the biggest part of the budget said Flynn.
With the closing of this 82nd regular session and the start of the special Session it appears it will be necessary for improvements to the original proposed legislation to address the funding of public education and other important issues
that were not addressed or completed in the Regular Session.
State Representative Dan Flynn of Hunt Texas serves in House District 2 covering Rains & Van Zandt Counties. He serves on the Defense & Veterans Affairs as well as the Homeland Security & Public Safety Committees where he is dedicated to ensuring Americas moral religious & constitutional foundations are remembered and respected.
