Wednesday, June 22, 2005
"School's Out Forever!"
Alice Cooper: prophet of Texas politics?
Those words, from an Alice Cooper song, continue to run through my mind these days because school likely is out forever here in Texas.
When the Republicans took over the legislature six years ago, they promised to scrap the so-called Robin Hood plan that funds the state's school districts. They have yet to do so, and now the situation has reached critical mass.
The legislature is under court order to replace the Robin Hood plan by October. Calling the plan unconstitutional, the order will shut down Texas schools if the legislature fails to act.
Legislators adjourned their regular session earlier this month having passed no new plan. They did put enough money in the state's education budget to fund schools in August and September, just long enough to get them to the court deadline.
On Saturday Governor Perry used his line-item veto power to eliminate the partial funding. He called the legislature into special session yesterday to pass a new plan.Perry has suggested to lawmakers his own plan for school finance. Leaders of both houses have indicated they will continue to work on the ideas that failed in the regular session. They say they might consider Perry's.
Simply put, it's crunch time. Lawmakers have 30 days (all that's allowed by law for a special session). Perry could call a second special session, but most schools are set to open by the time it would be over. If they don't get it done (and they haven't for six years), most school's won't have the money to open in August. Others will only have enough local reserves to get them to October, when the court order will shut down the entire system.
Many readers will wonder what role Democrats have in all this. The answer: none. We don't have enough votes in either house to make a difference. This is a crisis, and it's all the Republicans' fault.
