I found this press release on the Texas House website…  It appears Burt Solomons has proposed a pretty damned equitable solution to our education issues…  I think it merits at least a strong debate:

Austin, TX – On the first day of a special session to fix school finance Representative Burt Solomons (Carrollton) filed legislation that would allow Texans to vote to permanently increase the state’s funding of public schools. “HJR 15 is an opportunity to make public education the state’s number one priority,” said Rep. Solomons. This is the third time since 2003, Rep. Solomons has filed a constitutional amendment to set the minimum state funding of the public school system at 50 percent.

“Our current funding mechanism is forcing local school districts to raise taxes in some areas to the point where citizens cannot afford their mortgage payments due to high property taxes. It isn’t right.” said Rep. Solomons. “While the Supreme Court ruling has finally forced other legislators into talking about increasing the state contribution level funding our local school districts, I have been trying for the last three years to not only increase our level of funding, but to ensure that the state remains at
least a fifty-fifty partner with local districts. I believe we have finally reached an environment where this bill will be given appropriate consideration.”

The Texas Supreme Court declared the current school finance system violates the constitutional prohibition against a state-wide property tax because local districts have no meaningful discretion in the tax rate they impose upon property owners. The state sets the educational requirements for which school districts must pay and then sets a cap by which they can raise those funds, which led to half of the state’s school districts taxing property owners at the statutory cap of $1.50 per $100 of property value.

Texas legislators are required to change the funding mechanism by June 1, 2006 or risk being barred from sending any state funds to local school districts through an unconstitutional system. This could lead to school closures.

The proposal which will be considered in the opening weeks of the special session was generated by the Texas Tax Reform Commission appointed by Governor Perry and headed by former Comptroller John Sharp. The Sharp proposal would maintain the current level of funding for schools, but reformulates the sources of revenue.

The plan would increasing the state’s contribution from 34 percent to 50 percent, resulting in a $6 billion property tax reduction. The lost revenue would be replaced through a redesigned business tax on business revenue after deductions for payroll or the costs of raw materials and an increase in the taxes on cigarettes. However, there is nothing in the Sharp proposal that would guarantee that the state’s contribution would not decrease. Representative Solomons believes that is being disingenuous with the voters.

“By approving this constitutional amendment, the voters of Texas will be directing state legislators to fund at least half the cost of educating our children before funding anything else. I believe it is only fair to let the voters decide how their tax money is spent.”

Contact Information:
Bonnie Bruce
Legislative Director
512/463-0478

Technorati Tags: Burt Solomons, Texas Education Reform