By Representative Ken Paxton
Texas Insider Report: McKINNEY Texas While the American public has become accustomed to Congress adding unrelated riders & pork to Federal Spending Bills Texans may be surprised to learn that certain Congressional Members specifically targeted Texas last week making particular demands on our State while simultaneously circumventing Texas States Rights for funding public education.
Last week the United States House of Representatives passed the Supplemental Appropriations Bill H.R. 4899 ... with amendments.
Through amendment Congress is trying to bypass our States authority for setting our own education standards by offering money directly to school districts to hire additional employees.
However there is a catch.
In order for school districts to receive this money Governor Perry would have to guarantee that the Legislature would appropriate school funding
that would equal or exceed current funding for the next three fiscal years
(through 2013).
Not only is this amendment an attempt to infringe on our States right to set our own education standards it also makes demands that violate the Texas Constitution.
Texas governors do not have the authority to set appropriations in our States budget nor do they have the authority to require the Legislature to allocate appropriations in future budgets for specific State programs.
Governor Rick Perry has twice rejected federal funds to participate in the Obama Administration Race to the Top program. This program is designed to provide funding to states that adopt national education standards.
Rather than adopting federal standards Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott members of our
State Board of Education and other
education leaders in our State have spent the last four years rewriting standards for core subjects including English Language Arts Reading Science & Social Studies to improve the quality of education for our students in Texas.
Our State continues to lead the country in economic prosperity and job growth while declining offers for federal stimulus dollars with strings attached. However Congress is demonstrating its thirst for power by this effort to bypass our States authority.
The U.S. Senate will consider H.R. 4899 next week.
Hopefully Senators will strip this amendment from the bill and show appropriate respect for our Texas State Constitution and authority to set our own education standards.
Representative Ken Paxton was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2002 and is currently in his 4th term 
representing District 70. Paxton received his BA & MBA from Baylor University and also earned a law degree from the University of Virginia. He and his wife Angela live in McKinney TX and have 4 children.
