TX Senate poised to cut 1.6 billion from school funding bill. Call to action!

Now that senators can send their kids to private schools on the tax-payers’ dime, they are out to starve public schools. The proposal would cut the per student allotment already passed by the Texas House from $395 to $55. So much for their promise to “fully fund public schools.”

Contact Senator Donna Campbell (512) 463-0125 donna.campbell@senate.texas.gov,, Vice Chair of the Education Committee, with your opposition to this outrageous proposal.

Here are the details on the Senate’s substitute bill, thanks to Herb Krasner:

For those of you who don’t want to read the new 225 page committee substitute bill for HB2, I am attaching a summary document that shows the 6 parts (that were previously all separate bills that the Senate just slammed together) of the new public school finance bill.  It got its first reading on Thursday. 

Let me call your attention to the key chapter that will be the subject of much argument over the next couple of weeks.   Article VI, the last one, would raise the basic allotment by only $55.   This was a huge difference from the $395 raise that the full House voted through.    That $55 dollar raise would be worth about $303 million.  Bumping that up to $395 would take an additional $1.9 billion.  As I am sure you all know, the rainy day fund has been maxed out at $27 billion; and the state is expecting another large surplus this year. 

So, the Governor can easily afford to do both the “prescriptive” new version of HB2 from the Senate, as well as, the more flexible version of HB2 that was passed by the House.

Or will he continue with this ruse - During a May 14 news conference, Abbott called the amended bill “the best thing we can do ….. “.   

So much for “fully funding” our public schools.  If the new version of HB2 prevails that will very likely drop Texas down to about 45th in the nation in per pupil funding, and over $3,000 below the national average per student.  Maybe he doesn’t really want us to be so great after all.