Let's talk school finance

[Maestro]

Gov. Goodhair wants to finance the schools with porn and cigarette taxes. He stress that we all have to work together bipartisanly yet his own party is divided. As has been pointed out, Strayhorn, the comptroller came out strongly against the Goodhair's proposal saying it would cost Texas $10 billion more than it does currently.

One thing is for sure, Robin Hood would be fixed if Texas politicians did what they were supposed to do and fund education properly. The Constitution says that Texas must fund 50% of a district's cost to educate its children, but since the 70's that percentage has gone from somewhere in the 60th percentile to just 38%. So what is the fix? The state government needs to stop giving tax breaks to corporations, spend more wisely on programs that deserve the money, mainly education, and fund what is constitutionally demanded, at least 50%.

Or what do ya'll think of this? Completely do away with property taxes and impose a flat state income tax dedicated solely to education. I wonder how freepers would deal with that?

[sir_captain]

1. Nearly 40 states

most recently NY, I believe, have declared property taxes to be an unconstitutional way to fund public education, and they are absolutely correct. i would be fully in favor of a straight education tax.

Schools need to be funded in an equitable manner, not in accordance to the wealth of the people who live in the district. It's a complete joke.

[NoPasaran]

2. I have never understood the aversion

to a state income tax. I would prefer a progressive tax myself, one not dedicated solely to any single purpose.

[yella_dawg]

3. I don't know...

I'm concerned more about overall education issues than funding in particular. I pulled my youngest out of high school when the Superintendent admitted that they had repeatedly punished him for excessive tardiness when it was the same tardy violations from the beginning of school when he had a schedule problem that they were busting him for. She wasn't willing to overrule yet another week of detention (the third for the same offense), so I walked down the hall and pulled him out of school. A coworker was dragged into court and fined when a paperwork snafu had her son skipping school for an hour each day after he changed a course. That school (another district) admitted their mistake, but wouldn't drop misdemeanor criminal charges against her.

And the stories go on and on. The public school system in Texas has collapsed, and until massive changes are implemented, funding is almost beside the point.

By the way, if you do the research, the Chimp is almost single handedly responsible for taking a troubled school system and destroying it.

[Lithos]

4. That is the sad truth

The Public School System has gone from bad to worse here. And if that wasn't bad enough, the University System is equally broke with large sections of the PUF being forcibly invested in Enron type schemes to benefit the friends of the Chimpster.

L-

[yella_dawg]

6. Oh... That just so burns my butt.

Our University system was set with perpetual funding into the foreseeable future, and to see it ransacked is infuriating.

[Lithos]

7. These are the same types who want to (mis)manage

Social Security and other programs with long term funding...

Their education motto has always been "Leave no dollar behind."


L-

[2bfree]

5. Property taxes are the worst...........

Why shouldn't everyone in the state share in the cost of education?

[Wright Patman]

8. The elderly

have property and don't feel any responsibility, in most cases, to fund the education of upcoming generations.

I think property taxes are more equitable than sales taxes are.

An income tax will never fly. That's just reality. A lot of these same property-rich elderly now have very little income, so of course, all of a sudden a lot of them are hot-to-trot for an income tax.

Excuse my sweeping generalizations toward the elderly propertied class, but I've observed this phenomenon for a long time. Even with the taxes on their "homesteads" frozen at age 65, you can count on this group of voters to spearhead the defeat of school bond issues.

[NoPasaran]

10. Yes, but...

1. Property taxes do fund education. Robin Hood was instituted so that these would be a more equitable distribution of funding between districts with high property values and low property values.

2. I don't know how things work out in the rest of the state, but in Austin they usually count on the elderly to vote in favor of school bonds because their property taxes ARE frozen.

For the record, I am a working, non-elderly property owner.

[Wright Patman]

11. The freeze only applies

to one's homestead, though.

I am in a rural area. Even the elderly here generally own acreage out in the country that they either live on or has been in the family forever. Those taxes are not frozen.

I also think a lot of the elderly are just so scared and frightened about being old and on fixed incomes that they think they should be exempt from ALL taxes.

[Heritic]

9. And I'm one of the ones who suffers through it (grins)

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Heritic!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[sendero]

13. School funding....

.... I live in the Richardson school district. We get letters from the school administrators bemoaning Robin Hood all the time.

For the life of me I don't understand exactly what these people think should happen. They bitch about the $30-40 million that gets sucked out of our district for poorer districts, but I've yet to hear any of them articulate a better plan.

OTOH, I have nothing but good things to say about the way the schools my 3 sons attend are run. I have a special needs kid in elementary school, and everyone from the principal (and *escpecially* the vice principal) on down has been the best people you could hope to work with. They have made every reasonable accommodation we've asked for and even gone the extra mile repeatedly.

I guess I'm looking forward to the day when the richer school districts just accept the fact that they have to help support the poorer ones. I don't like taxes either, but this seems like a good use of them to me.

[montieg]

14. Something no one's brought up

is corporate taxation. The franchise tax is a joke. Most corporate "citizens" in Texas pay zero---that is: nought-nil-odus-none! To me, that is an abomination! We 'rebate' all these corporate taxes to make a business-friendly climate when all it does is fatten the CEO's paycheck.

And as an educator in west Texas who is a property owner, I chuckle at the 'fixing' of Robin Hood. My take on it is that only the wealthy districts that pay in to Robin are the ones squealing about 'fixing' it. It's like the Re-pube tools of "framing" the argument: "tax relief" implies something is oppressive... 'fixing Robin Hood' is letting all the underfunded districts go to hell-- we're keeping our money.