Lack of Leadership affects school finance system

Rita Haeker, president of Texas State Teachers Association, is the author of the commentary, “Leadership lacking when it comes to school finance”. She blames the school finance system for the Texas school budgetary problem, not the struggling economy. Budget problems are mounting for many school districts. This will be a major legal and financial quagmire agenda item for the next governor.

I don’t think property tax increase is the answer to the budget problem now and in the future. People are struggling to pay their current high property taxes. I agree with the author regarding the state government shrinking its responsibilities on the matter. Budgetary task is one of the essential reasons for the politicians’ elections. They should take on the responsibility of coming up with a balanced school budget. It wasn’t too long ago that Texas lawmakers, facing a court order, finally, undertook a major overhaul of the school funding system.

The author makes a point that the budget cuts proposed by state Education Commissioner Robert Scott are not realistic ones.  The governor is responsible for guiding the $35 billion public school system and its 4.4 million students, which experts say needs a major overhaul to make sure schools are getting enough money.


I think the budget situation will call for disparate acts in 2011. Joe Smith, a school consultant and former superintendent has said, "There's going to be a whole lot of districts that are going to be up against the wall."

The author lists the lawmakers’ proposed budget cuts of totaling 260 million dollars from textbook purchase to dropout preventions programs. However, in a blog posted in the TexasMonthly by Paul Burka, the headline says: “Perry: no cuts to education budget in 2011”. Sherry Kofler had a ten-minute live interview with Perry on Sep 17. All of Kofler’s questions pertained to the budget. The most important part of the interview was when Kofler asked Perry, “Can you assure public school educators that our education budget will not be cut?” Perry’s response: “Yeah, I think so.”

We should not be surprised by a politician saying one thing during an interview, but have a hidden agenda behind the scene. I am not for raising property taxes every time the state is short in budget. Every industry with the exception of health care of course, is cutting cost. Perhaps education system can find a way to cut cost without sacrificing quality of education.  My recommendation would be to reduce the four-year high school duration to three years. This should keep the students busier during the senior year instead of being part time students.

I think Ms. Haecker complains about the budget cut, but she really does not offer a smart solution to the budget issue, instead she only defends the existing budget. She should evaluate the options within the education system’s efficiency.