Don't talk about tuition!

This is the least surprising news item of the week.

Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday urged university regents to consider several potentially controversial changes in policy, including merit bonuses for some teachers and state grants of scholarships, or "vouchers," directly to students.

"We have to take these reforms, we have to put them in place and we have to be responsible for them," said Perry, who co-hosted a wide-ranging higher education summit with the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Rising tuition, which has strained the budgets of many Texas students and their families since Perry signed a tuition deregulation law in 2003, was barely mentioned all day.

But the governor said his proposed reforms, which also include separating universities' research and education budgets and changing how tenure is determined for some professors, would make higher education "more accessible."

As with the so-called "education reforms" that were passed during the 2006 special session on property tax cuts - you know, the session that once upon a time was supposed to be about fixing school finance - what we have here was an ideological wish list plus a studied avoidance of the actual problem. I suppose you have to admire the single-mindedness and dedication to purpose, if nothing else. I still think they should have invited me.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 23, 2008 to Budget ballyhoo