Pre-Kindergarten English & Supplemental Science Programs
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas After providing the Texas Legislature with an additional $3 billion Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott and State Board of Education (SBOE) members are urging lawmakers to fulfill their constitutional mandate and spend a portion of that money to purchase textbooks and other instructional materials.
The Texas Constitution specifies the money generated by the Permanent School Fund must be used for only two purposes: to buy instructional materials or textbooks & for the per-capita allotment in school finance.
However the initial House budget for the next two years does not include any money for new instructional materials. New materials for:
- English Language Arts
- Pre-Kindergarten
English as a 2nd Language and- Supplemental Science Programs
These items are expected to cost $550 million and be implemented into classrooms in Fall 2011.
But
Commissioner Scott and the State Board members are making it clear that more than enough money is available in this budget cycle to purchase instructional materials and still have money left over to fund other educational programs.
You have two competing interests when the State Board sends over funds for the Legislature. We have a policy reason to push for the purchase of instructional materials this time because were moving to end-of-course exams and we want to make sure our students have those materials in hand before we test them" Scott said.
Scott described the purchase of instructional material as essential."
San Antonio
SBOE Member Ken Mercer said the State Board is the only government entity in Texas that sends the
Legislature an invoice and then provides the money to pay for that invoice and have money left over.
The SBOE sends a bill of $550 million to purchase critical textbooks for the children of Texas provides the cash money to pay that bill and then pays out over $2.4 billion in additional funding for public school education" Mercer said.
In a letter to state legislators all 15 members of the State Board noted the Board has fulfilled its duty to provide funding for the public school system and asked lawmakers to now do their duty and buy the new instructional material.
