Tag Archives: school finance

Senate to tap that Rainy Day Fund

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It is just sitting there, not doing any good if it’s unused. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, laid out an ambitious plan to spend $6 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund on Thursday morning while also … Continue reading →

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More details on the House budget

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Consider this to be written in pencil, because it’s going to change. More than $1.6 billion and disagreements on how much Texas should spend on public education and Medicaid separate the budgets proposed by the House and Senate. The Senate … Continue reading →

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House Appropriations releases its budget outline

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Better news for schools in this version. The House Appropriations Committee voted unanimously Thursday to boost funding for public schools by $2.5 billion in the next two-year budget period. Schools would get an additional $500 million in the current fiscal … Continue reading →

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Pauken for Governor

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We have our first official non-fringe candidate for Governor next year. Saying he hoped to reunite the “Reagan coalition of social and economic conservatives,” former Texas Workforce Commissioner Tom Pauken confirmed to the Tribune that he will file to run … Continue reading →

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Senate passes its budget

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Let the damning with faint praise for this jerry-rigged excuse for not adequately funding our needs yet not eviscerating them as badly as last time begin. The Texas Senate approved a $195.5 billion two-year budget Wednesday, with Democratic state Sens. … Continue reading →

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We have a budget

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It is what it is. The 15 members of the Senate Finance Committee unanimously voted on Wednesday for a $195.5 billion two-year budget that undoes some of the cuts from the 2011 legislative session. The budget, which now heads to … Continue reading →

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TSTA polls about public education

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, via the TSTA: A strong majority of Texas voters support using some of the $12 billion in the state’s Rainy Day Fund to restore the $5.4 billion cut from the public education budget two years ago, and … Continue reading →

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More on sunsetting tax expenditures

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I say again, this is a good idea that really needs to happen. The Texas tax code is rich with tax breaks. There are tax breaks for industries relocating to the state and for anyone with an Internet connection. Tax … Continue reading →

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Senate committee restores some money to public education

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Emphasis on the “some”. Texas public schools would get back a chunk of the $5.4 billion in state funding they lost two years ago under a budget proposal adopted by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday. But they probably should … Continue reading →

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Why do we think more charters would help?

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Patricia Kilday Hart discusses the political battle over charter schools, but in doing so reminds me that there’s a fundamental question that seems to be going largely unasked. Now, a sweeping bill filed by Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, could lead … Continue reading →

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Supplement this!

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Time for the Lege to pay a few past-due bills from 2011. That’s where a supplemental budget comes in. It is literally a second budget added to the original one lawmakers approved in 2011. It’s not an unusual course for … Continue reading →

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School districts are still a long way from getting relief

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

School districts may have gotten a favorable ruling in the latest school finance lawsuit, and if it survives appeal it could have far-reaching effects on the current system, but that doesn’t mean that things will get better for them now. … Continue reading →

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This time it’s different

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Why is this school finance ruling different from all other school finance rulings? For one thing, it was way more comprehensive. The changes needed to correct the constitutional violations [Judge John] Dietz identified could comprise the most far-reaching overhaul of … Continue reading →

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School finance system ruled unconstitutional

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Surely no one is surprised by this. The system Texas uses to fund public schools violates the state’s constitution by not providing enough money and failing to distribute the money in a fair way, a judge ruled Monday in a … Continue reading →

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Sunsetting tax expenditures

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sens. John Carona and Rodney Ellis have the right idea. Over the past 18 months, many of our constituents told us they have trouble finding a reliable, accurate and up-to-date source of information on these tax breaks, exemptions and special … Continue reading →

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Crocodile tears over the school finance lawsuit

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is little more than blaming the victim. A state judge is expected to rule next week on whether the school finance system is broken, but lawmakers aren’t anywhere near ready to launch repairs. Instead, Republican leaders plan to wait … Continue reading →

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What we need is better choice

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

With all the talk about “school choice” floating around, it’s important to remember that in Houston at least we already have a lot of options from which to choose. Houston’s urban school leaders vowed Wednesday to continue efforts to expand … Continue reading →

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From the “Anyone can call themselves an expert” department

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Now see, this is what happens when you go soliciting expert witnesses on Craigslist Joseph Bast, president and CEO of the Chicago-based Heartland Institute, is a witness for Texans for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education, or TREE, a group … Continue reading →

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Here come the tax cut proposals

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

When the sunny revenue forecast came in, we immediately got one crappy tax cut idea, to eliminate the margins tax at a cost of $4.5 billion. The Texas Association of Business didn’t care for the idea, at least at first, … Continue reading →

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School finance dispatches

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Some bad news for the state in the school finance lawsuit. State District Judge John Dietz directed state attorneys Wednesday to redo a key study that underestimated the funding advantages of higher-wealth school districts — a blow to the state’s … Continue reading →

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The revenue estimate is in

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

And under normal circumstances it would be very good news. Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, laying out the parameters for state spending on the eve of the legislative session, said Monday that the rebounding Texas economy gives lawmakers $8.8 billion unallocated … Continue reading →

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A look ahead to the 2013 Lege

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib previews the biennial hijinks of the 2013 Texas Legislature. The last time Texas lawmakers convened in Austin, they were absorbed with numbers and boundaries: how to make ends meet with a deflated state budget and draw new district … Continue reading →

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What they’re saying about education

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has a couple of stories focusing on area legislators and their priorities for 2013. There will be many new faces in the Lege and the Senate in this session, so the more we know about what these folks … Continue reading →

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So how’s public education doing under the Republicans?

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Well, for starters, there’s larger class sizes. Northside’s predicament mirrors that of several other local districts with expanding enrollments. It’s part of the argument hundreds of Texas districts are making in an ongoing school finance lawsuit against the state, blaming … Continue reading →

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Dude, I’m serious!

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

House Speaker Joe Straus is ready to have a “serious” legislative session. You know, totally unlike the last one. Despite organized efforts to unseat him, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said Wednesday he is confident his colleagues will re-elect him … Continue reading →

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Two minus five is still less than zero

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s nice that Speaker Joe Straus wants to restore public education funding, but let’s be clear about what that means. Texas House Speaker Joe Straus said Friday he’s committed to pumping billions of dollars back into the state’s public schools, … Continue reading →

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Plaintiffs rest their case in school finance lawsuit

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Phase one is over. Hundreds of districts suing the state over its school finance system wrapped up their case Wednesday with testimony that largely blamed the Legislature for creating the current funding crisis that stripped away an unprecedented $5.4 billion … Continue reading →

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Eight billion dollars

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That’s how much is needed per year to make public education whole. Lynn Moak told state District Judge John Dietz that it will take more than $8 billion a year in additional money to get students on target to graduate … Continue reading →

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Children continue to be our future

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The mother of all school finance lawsuits, which commenced on Monday, will take many weeks to conclude. I don’t expect to follow it every day since there’s just so much else going on, but I wanted to point out a … Continue reading →

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School finance lawsuit starts today

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, the latest school finance lawsuit, which Judge John Dietz has called “the granddaddy of them all”, begins today in Travis County. The Statesman takes a look at the history of school finance and associated litigation, and how … Continue reading →

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Margins tax back before Supreme Court

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Yet another challenge to that unloved tax. The Texas Supreme Court [Friday] accepted a case that will decide whether the state improperly administers its business tax. Nestle USA argues that the tax violates the Texas Constitution’s requirement that taxes be … Continue reading →

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On comparing school districts

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Easier said than done. The way the state distributes money to school districts, and how much, will be center stage when a trial begins this fall involving more than half of the state’s districts serving the majority of its students, … Continue reading →

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TREE lawsuit may proceed with the other school finance suits

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We will have one big school finance lawsuit, not multiple separate suits. State District Judge John Dietz ruled on Tuesday that the claims from Texans for Real Efficiency and Equity in Education, a group of charter school supporters and parents, … Continue reading →

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Land Board throws the Lege a curveball on school finance

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Oops. In the waning days of the 82nd Legislature, state lawmakers came up with a plan to help cushion the blow of $5.4 billion in cuts to public education. State Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson, proposed a constitutional amendment that he … Continue reading →

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