Public Invited to Debate on Education Finance Reform

Education & Affordable Housing
Public Invited to Debate on Education Finance Reform
By Scott O. Shaffer
Aug 2, 2005, 11:21

The Senate Committee on Education began hearing public testimony Aug. 1 on Senate Bill 8, Sen. Florence Shapiro’s, R-Plano, new public school reform/finance bill as the second special seesion of the 79th Texas Legislature continued.

Legislators, school officials, parents and teachers have had since late July 29, when Shapiro filed the bill, to study its provisions. Virtually all those testifying said that SB 8 was an improvement over HB 2 but that it needed more work.

Donna Rodgers, a teacher in the Humble Independent School District, encouraged the senators to reinstate a provision in SB 8 that had been in previous school finance reform proposals that would allow for college tuition and fee exemptions for children of qualifying public school teachers. The proposal was not part of the final version of HB 2 and is not currently in SB 8.

Rodgers also said that most teachers would see the proposed $3,000 average salary increase proposed in SB 8 as a $1,500 to $2,000 cost-of-living adjustment with a reinstatement of health insurance benefits that were recently lost to legislative cuts.

“This money does not increase our standard of living," Rodgers said. "It's not like working for a corporation and getting a raise that allows you to live better. It would be money to keep us (teachers) from falling farther behind."

Most of the speakers also strongly recommended removal of a provision in SB 8 that would make federal accountability standards superior to Texas standards.

Lynn Moak, partner in Moak, Casey & Associates and an influential public school finance consultant, concluded in his analysis of SB 8 that “the bill remains a work in progress."

"First and foremost, Senate Bill 8 does not address the fundamental need for tax policy change in Texas," Moak said. "The Texas public school system is best served by a robust tax structure which contains a combination of property taxes, sales taxes and a comprehensive business tax. Until such a structure is adopted, Texas will continue to experience a school finance crisis."

Each of the 14 senators hearing the public testimony was handed a copy of Moak’s analysis. None of the senators responded publicly to his call for a change in the state’s tax policy or argued with his conclusion. Public testimony is expected to continue in future days as the debate on financing public education rolls on.