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Legislative Updates
HB1 IMPACT FOR RICHARDSON ISD
May 25, 2006
As you are aware, the Texas Legislature was mandated to "fix school finance" before June 1. Five bills were passed that will provide the framework for how the state pays for public education. House Bill 1 makes significant changes to the Texas Education Code, and the other four bills (House Bills 2, 3, 4, and 5) raise the revenue needed to put House Bill 1 into action. The following is a summary of the main points of HBl and how it affects Richardson ISD taxpayers.
House Bill 1 provides for a school district Operating Tax rate reduction of approximately 12% or about $0.17 in 2006-07. In 2007-08, the operating tax rate will be reduced by approximately $0.33 more for a total reduction of 33.3% from the current $1.50 operating tax rate.
Districts are guaranteed an amount of revenue at least equal to the 2005-06 state and local revenue that is received under the current school finance system, which means RISD would receive additional state aid to make up for the reduction in operating tax revenue because of the reduction in the tax rate.
Districts are then allowed to increase the operating tax rate by up to $0.04 for local enrichment. This authority can be exercised by the Board of Trustees this year as in succeeding years. They do not have to exercise the $.04 all at once. Districts are not required to gain community approval for the additional $.04 through a local election.
The Board will decide later this year if any of the $.04 is needed for 2006-07. Recapture will likely not apply to this $.04 as long as our property values do not exceed the property values of Austin ISD, the benchmark district in the law.
Recapture will still apply to the balance of the operating tax rate ($1.33 in 2006-2007) but at a higher wealth threshold, meaning significantly less recapture for RISD.
House Bill 1 also provides funds for a $2,000 pay increase for teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians and converts the $500 health insurance supplement to salary. The Board of Trustees will make a final determination on the total salary increases for the district at their June meetings.
In addition, the bill establishes a high school allotment of $275 for each 9th through 12th grade student using an average daily attendance formula. We are waiting for details as to whether these funds must be used for new programs or can fund existing activities.
Two incentive pay programs are established that all districts in the state would be able to apply for award stipends for teachers and campuses.
The bill mandates a uniform school start date on the fourth Monday of August. All Texas districts must start on this date effective the 2007-08 school year.
House Bill 1 makes other changes to the Texas Education Code that include: school district efficiency, state and regional governance, school accountability, high school-college transition, bilingual education review, etc. Full text of the bill can be found at www.capitol.state.tx.us.
RISD will continue to monitor interpretations of the new Texas school finance laws and bring updates to you as necessary. At any time you are welcome to contact the school district with questions or concerns.
The 80th session of the Texas Legislature will begin on January 9, 2007. We look forward to working with our legislators to continue to improve public education in Texas.
Thank you again for your support of RISD and our continued efforts to provide quality education for all children.
Subscription link: http://www.risd.org/SchoolTimesNOW/index.htm
Vote for HB 5 to raise the cigarette tax by $1.00.
Texas PTA supports this tax because it will result in a decrease in youth smoking.
Texas PTA Legislative Update Week of April 10-14
Dear PTA friends,
The long awaited (at least by me) special session to solve the school finance crisis begins today! Governor Perry will give legislators the "official call" (i.e. the specific reason you're here) at the opening of both chambers (House & Senate). He has not made his call official yet, and that has prevented legislators from pre-filing bills - so no one knows exactly how the Tax Reform Commission's proposal will be presented. (See the latest news on what will is likely to happen regarding tax bills below.)
I've been asked several times, "What should we be doing?" That's great to hear because it means our members are thinking about how they can participate and influence what will happen in Austin (and they can!!) My answer to that question at this time is to keep up-to-date with what is happening, and to be ready to make calls or even visit legislators about legislation regarding our schools. Our first action may be to make calls regarding the proposed cigarette tax. Although it seems like passing an increase in the cigarette tax would be a "no brainer" because it will help keep our kids from smoking – the tobacco lobby is strong and will likely oppose anything that may decrease cigarette sales. We will keep a vigilant watch on what's happening in Austin, keep you informed, and let you know as soon as action is needed.
If you're interested and have the technology available to you, you can watch the proceedings in Austin LIVE. Go www.house.state.tx.us OR www.senate.state.tx.us and click on the Video/Audio link on the left side bar to watch either session live (under the Senate Web site, find the video/audio link within News & Media). It can be very interesting at times.
The Briefing below by PTA's connection in Austin (Jim Arnold Associates) gives information on how a special session works, more details about the proposed cigarette tax and related activities, and the schedule of committees that will meet on issues of interest to PTA (based on our positions that were voted on in Feb. 2006).
Please write with any questions or if you need additional information . . . MorseLiz@aol.com. We'll be in touch!
Liz Morse
Texas PTA Legislative Chair
SPECIAL SESSION UPDATE
The 1st Special Session of the Legislature begins on April 17, 2006. The governor is authorized to call special sessions in 30 day increments and to identify the purpose of the session, thereby limiting legislation that may be considered by the legislature. This does not, however, preclude members from filing bills on topics outside the governor's call. Legislators often file bills on wide ranging topics in order to be ready to act if and when the governor expands the call to other topics. The governor has hinted he may expand the call to a pay increase for teachers and to tuition revenue bonds for colleges and universities (these bonds fund building projects) if property tax reduction is accomplished.
Cigarette Tax: TX PTA has been asked to rejoin the coalition, Texans Investing in Healthy Families, with whom PTA affiliated in 2003. The coalition seeks to increase the state's cigarette tax by $1.00 per pack. Jim Arnold Associates will attend a meeting of the coalition on April 17 to discuss strategy. The coalition will release a press release on Monday praising the cigarette tax portion of the governor's plan (similar to the press release TX PTA put out several days ago). In addition, the coalition will mail a letter with facts about the benefits of a cigarette tax increase to all members of the legislature. TX PTA will no doubt be asked over the next few weeks to activate the grassroots across the state to make calls and send emails to legislators endorsing the tax increase. The tobacco industry has begun an ad campaign in Texas opposing the tax increase.
Members of San Antonio PTA will come to Austin next week to visit their legislators. We'll welcome them on April 18.
THE BUZZ
The buzz at the capitol is that the governor's plan will be divided into 4-5 bills that will be filed in the House on Monday when the session begins. All tax bills must originate in the House of Representatives. The bills will be heard and voted out of committee by Wednesday, April 19. The bills will be heard on the floor of the House over the weekend, April 21-23. Possible stand alone bills include one to reform the business tax, one to increase the cigarette tax, one to use the budget surplus for property tax relief. The speculation is that Rep. Geanie Morrison, (R) Victoria, will carry the cigarette tax increase legislation.
INTERIM CHARGES
House Ways and Means - met April 10, 2006 to review the Sharp Tax Reform Commission report and sample legislation. All tax bills must originate in this committee. The plan for property tax reduction was presented in 2 bills, one to deal with the property tax reduction for 2007 and the larger bill to handle the business tax reform, cigarette tax, and appropriation of surplus. The concepts were generally well- received by the committee.
Upcoming hearings Jim Arnold Associates will monitor:
House Committee on Corrections *
April 18, 2006 - 9:00 AM
Capitol Extension Bldg., Room E2.036, Austin
The committee will be meeting jointly with the House Committee on Public Education to take public testimony on: Interim Charge 6: Study the adequacy of the state accountability system in measuring the effectiveness of Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEPs) based on academic performance, behavior modification and percentage of students referred to the juvenile justice system.
House Committee on Public Health *
April 18, 2006 - 01:30 PM or upon final adjourn/recess
Capitol Extension Bldg., Room E2.030, Austin ***REVISED***
The committee will meet jointly with the House Committee on State Affairs to take invited testimony only on: Interim Charge 6: Examine the compliance of cigarette manufacturing companies with the 1998 Tobacco Settlement with reference to sales to minors and progress toward meeting the state's tobacco use goals, and the cost of tobacco use to the state.
Additional Information Contact: 512/463-0806
Senate Committee on Health and Human Services *
May 3, 2006 - 09:00 AM or upon adjournment Texas State Capitol Bldg., Senate Chamber, Austin
The committee will hear invited and public testimony on Charge #3 relating to shortages in the health care workforce; Charge #4 relating to increasing the number of Federally Qualified Health Centers in Texas; and Charge #7 relating to the creation of a comprehensive statewide nutrition and physical activity plan.
Additional Information Contact: Sen. Jane Nelson, 512/463-0112.
April 12, 2006:
I've been quiet lately, realizing that you might want to catch up on your life before the storm hits. Well...you now have less than a week. The stakes are high in this coming special session, and the legislature is going to have to approve a new method of funding schools before the deadline on June 1.
I am going to pass along an article that I found from www.themonitor.com. It was written by a teacher in McAllen, Texas. You'll be hearing from me.
Pat TysonCitizenship and Legislation
RISD Council of PTAs
Here We Go Again
April 11, 2006
Chris Ardis
Monday, April 17, yet another 30-day special session of the Texas Legislature (at a cost of nearly $1 million) will convene. I sure hope teachers and concerned citizens across the state will be paying very close attention to what happens this time. There has been some very positive news for teachers since the last special session. Rep. Kent Grusendorf, R-Arlington, was defeated in the primaries by Diane Patrick, a former school board and State Board of Education member who is now an Associate Professor of Education at University of Texas-Arlington. It was not a close race. Grusendorf, who has served as a member of the House since 1987 and who raised twice as much money as Patrick, received only 43 percent of the vote. The reason this is such great news is that Grusendorf is currently the chairman of the Texas House Public Education Committee, and I have maintained for a very long time that he is no friend of educators. Time and again, Grusendorf introduced bills that were anti-educator. Patrick will now face Democrat David Pillow in November. There have also been some rather confusing developments. I am perplexed each time I hear Gov. Rick Perry’s TV commercials touting everything he has done for education. Many times I listen to the TV while I am doing other things, but I have to admit that the first time I heard the ad, I actually looked up to make sure it was the governor’s ad.Education is definitely one of Perry’s weaknesses. As Dave McNeely wrote in his syndicated column published in the March 31 edition of The Monitor, "OK. Three years, one regular session, and six — that’s right, six — special sessions later, where is the school finance bill?"
There are more questionsstate were asking at the start of the school year. How can you hold books hostage that students need for class?"When was the last time teachers in Texas received a pay raise from the state?" There is a reason why we do not even rank in the top half in the nation when it comes to our salaries."Why are charter schools popping up all over the state and why are so many parents rushing to enroll their children in these schools?""When was the last time legislators…"Where are the textbooks?" This is a question so many districts in the ruly studied the number of days students are allowed to miss school for ‘EXTRA-curricular’ activities?" And the questions go on … But now, the governor has a time limit. The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s current tax system must be reformed by June 1 because using local property taxes to pay for our schools is unconstitutional. If a solution is not found, there will be no money for the 1,000-plus school districts in the state. The governor appointed a special commission, led by John Sharp, to recommend a solution. Will it be a new cigarette tax? Will they decide to use the state’s budget surplus? Will they add a new business tax? I have another idea the commission may not have considered. Get our elected officials to come up with a viable tax and school finance plan during the regular session and we will have even more of a budget surplus … the money they are wasting with all of the unproductive special sessions.
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Chris Ardis is a teacher for the McAllen school district. To reach her, send e-mail to Cardis1022@aol.com.
The following is from the Texas Federation of Teachers newsletter
Sent by Pat Tyson - Citizenship and Legislation, Friday, December 02, 2005
Education Hearings Show Leadership Agenda: Two Texas House committees met yesterday to spotlight education-related issues the House leadership wants to push in the 2007 legislative session. The House Public Education Committee, according to committee chair Kent Grusendorf, Republican of Arlington, outlined an agenda approved by House Speaker Tom Craddick, Republican of Midland, that will ensure renewed battles over private-school vouchers, plans to tie teacher pay to students' test scores, erosion of teachers' contract rights, and privatization. The committee also will pick a fight with school boards over the issue of school-district consolidation, an efficiency concept that many support in theory but few support when it means the demise of their own local school district.School boards and school superintendents have been vocal critics of the House leadership's inadequate funding of schools and its embrace of an agenda hostile to public education in the name of "reform." The criticism hasn't been appreciated, and in a second hearing held jointly with the House General Investigating Committee yesterday, the Grusendorf committee suggested that it is illegitimate for school districts to use tax dollars to pay for lobbying activity at the capitol on education issues. An attorney from the Texas Ethics Commission informed the two committees that such lobbying is not prohibited if local funds are used, and the discussion veered after that into the difficulties of identifying the source of funds used by districts to support lobbying.Of special interest and concern to educators will be the work of two subcommittees created yesterday. Rep. Bill Keffer, Republican of Dallas, will lead a panel on Chapter 21 of the Education Code, which includes certification standards, contract protections, personal leave, duty-free lunch, planning and preparation periods, and other key safeguards of employee rights and educational quality. The issue will be whether Chapter 21 "effectively promotes" the state's educational goals. Joining Keffer on this subcommittee will be Reps. Scott Hochberg, Democrat of Houston, and Dianne Delisi, Republican of Temple.The other subcommittee to watch is charged with exploring "successful performance-based pay systems for educational professionals in Texas and other states." An honest study would admit that it's hard to find an example of a genuinely successful performance-based pay scheme, if educational rather than political criteria are used to gauge success. We'll see whether the subcommittee chaired by Rep. Delisi, with Reps. Keffer and Anna Mowery of Fort Worth, all Republicans, will follow educational evidence or political preconceptions in its findings.
Tax Commission Sets Meetings: The first four public hearings of the governor's advisory commission on tax restructuring will occur on December 8, in Temple and Waco, and on December 13, in Victoria and Corpus Christi. We'll be there for all of them, and we'll have more information in upcoming hotlines on how much of a chance ordinary citizens will have to say their piece. The basic assignment from the governor for the two dozen business leaders on the commission is to recommend a tax swap: a reduction in school property taxes balanced by an equivalent increase in other types of taxes. During the recent failed legislative sessions on school finance, the governor and legislative leaders pushed a tax swap that would have left 80 or 90 percent of Texans with higher taxes, while offering real net tax cuts only to the highest-income 10 percent of taxpayers and to favored business sectors. The leadership's failed plan also would have produced zero new revenue for public education. A threshold question going into the hearings next week is whether the governor's appointees really have been granted any leeway by the governor to come up with a better approach now.
What is Texas PTA's position on funding our public schools?
legislative update 12-1-05
Texas PTA's position on funding for public education will continue to focus on the need for adequate and equal funding for ALL public schools so that every child has an opportunity for a quality education. We do not have a position on HOW the funds are raised.
I believe the task before our legislators will basically be where to find the money. But we want to keep our eyes and ears open when it comes to "reform." Many times in the past reform has detoured into talk of vouchers, etc. Our PUBLIC money MUST stay in our PUBLIC schools.
For now we will just ask our members to keep in touch with their local legislators, conveying the message that while we encourage them to devise a system of finance that will be fair and equitable, we DEMAND a system that provides a quality education to every child. The Texas Supreme Court says the funds are adequate - JUST BARELY - but adequate. We do not agree. We ask that our legislators put politics aside and focus on the education needs of our children.
Watch the Texas PTA website for updates under the Legislative tab, then click on News Flash. All updates will be posted there as they are made available.
Thank you for your commitment to the children of Texas!
Texas PTA
National PTA
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