Sunday, October 02, 2005
Yesterday Was Supposed To Be The Day
Former Texas Comptroller John Sharp (D) is the newly-appointed school savior.
Yesterday could have been doomsday for Texas Public Schools.
Saturday, October 1, 2005, was the deadline given by the district judge that ruled against the state in a lawsuit filed by a number of the state's school districts. The judge ruled that the state's current school funding system is inequitable, thereby rendering it unconstitutional, and ordered the legislature to write a new plan by yesterday. The Texas Constitution requires an equitable education for all of the state's children. Naturally, the district judge's order was appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.
Those whose attention hadn't been distracted by hurricanes and Tom DeLay were hoping the Supreme Court would rule on the appeal, or at least stay the district court's decision, on Friday. That didn't happen. After promising to rule by the end of September, the justices handed down nothing (at least on this case) in the documents they released Friday. Legislators continue to hope the court will decide how to fund the schools for them. No school funding plan has been executed in Texas in over 30 years without involvement by the court.
As the Dallas Morning News reports, schools will open on Monday. Schools are funded in 25-day cycles here in Texas. A new cycle began yesterday. What happens on October 25 is now anybody's guess, especially without any guidance from the Supreme Court.
In a related story, Republican Governor Rick Perry has tapped former Democratic Comptroller John Sharp to head a blue ribbon panel that will solve the school funding conundrum. Sharp had been rumored to be a Democratic candidate for Perry's job next year. Those rumors died hard today, just as hard as the "thud" sound made by Perry's bone landing in front of Sharp.
