Seeks more accountability in school spending
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas The Texas Constitution demands that the State shall provide for an efficient public education system yet the definition of an efficient school system has never been litigated before the courts. TAB believes that it is time the courts consider and determine what it actually costs to educate a student in Texas and more importantly whether that money is being spent efficiently. This is why TAB is joining a school finance lawsuit that seeks to answer that question.
We have decided that the public school system in Texas at present is inefficient" said Bill Hammond TAB President and CEO. We want to bring to the court the issue of efficiency. Texas businesses pay for two-thirds of the cost of education and are the ultimate consumer of the product of our Texas public education system. If you consider the graduation rate which is only about 65 percent of ninth graders graduating in four years and only 25 percent of them are career and college ready clearly this is not an efficient system."
Our litigation is based on the Texas Constitutions efficiency standard which means productive of results" said former State Rep. and Public Education Committee Chairman Kent Grusendorf. No one knows better the importance of efficiency and productivity than Texas business leaders. Therefore we are very pleased that the Texas Association of Business has joined this critical efficiency litigation.
It is our hope that the court will include in whatever ruling they make instructions to the legislature to do the first and most important thing that any businessman would do - determine the actual cost of educating a Texas student and how to efficiently spend that money" said Hammond. Once that is done then the legislature can determine if there is sufficient funding to do that."
Hammond said that the court shouldnt stop there. We also think that the court should look at the teacher contract law which is overbearing and allows a teacher who is fired to appeal to the Commissioner of Education. Charter schools are another option that should be considered by the court. The state has set an arbitrary cap and we think that it should be removed.
We think that a study on efficiency is absolutely critical for the future of this State its people and its economy and thats why we are here today" Hammond concluded.
