Today, State Rep. Mike Villarreal showed how our Legislature prioritizes energy industry donors over our state's children. This is a great angle, and very accurate.
New Data Show Natural Gas Tax Break Costs Schools $2 Billion
San Antonio - The state's high-cost natural gas tax exemption cost the state $2.3 billion during fiscal years 2010 and 2011, according to data provided by the state Comptroller's office. The dollar figure is roughly equivalent to the amount needed to cover the increase in student enrollment, which the legislature chose not to pay for in the current state budget.
"Texas voters know the legislature should prioritize schoolchildren over the natural gas industry," said Rep. Villarreal. "Instead of using this money to subsidize the gas industry and forcing schools to make deep cuts, we should invest these funds in hiring great teachers, keeping class sizes manageable, and making college affordable for hard-working students. If we want to create jobs and grow the economy, then we need to invest in our children's education."
During the last legislative session, as the legislature was cutting $5 billion for public education, Republican legislators voted down an amendment by Rep. Villarreal to suspend the business subsidy during years when education funding declines or when natural gas prices were clearly high enough for the market to spur significant production.
The subsidy cost the state $1.3 billion in 2010, while the natural gas production tax yielded $700 million for the state. In 2011 the exemption totaled $1 billion and the state collected $1.1 billion from the tax. The majority of the revenue goes into the state's general revenue fund, which is available to fund education and other essential services.
A recent study by the Legislative Budget Board found that the subsidy cost the state $7.4 billion from 2004 to 2009. The report found that over half of natural gas wells now qualify for the tax subsidy that was designed to only serve "high cost" wells. The LBB reported that the natural gas industry paid no state severance tax at all on approximately one-third of wells. Over half of the refunds audited by the state Comptroller proved to be fraudulent.
(Please welcome Senator Van de Putte to BOR! And if you're in San Antonio, check out the Save Texas Schools conference this weekend. It's such an important issue here in Texas. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
This past legislative session was devastating to our public schools. When lawmakers came to the Capitol a year ago facing an $18 billion budget deficit - a structural deficit caused by ill-advised changes to our state's business tax structure in special session back in 2006 - too many of my colleagues were locked in to a "cuts-only" mentality, adamantly refused to touch the Rainy Day Fund (despite the fact that it was pouring), and slashed funding where it was too often needed most.
One area that got hit hardest was public education. In an incredibly short-sighted move that shortchanges the future of our state, $5 billion was taken from the next generation of Texans and the dedicated professionals responsible for educating them.
We must reverse that decision next year - by acting this year. Although we're still 12 months away from the start of the 83rd session, we cannot wait until 2013 to begin building the political muscle and momentum necessary for change. As of this writing, we're still awaiting decisions in the redistricting trials before we can move ahead with elections, but rest assured, those elections will eventually happen - and you must make those seeking office realize that properly funding education is the top priority for Texans.
To help lay the foundation for this change, please join me Friday, February 3 and Saturday, February 4 for the Save Texas Schools Conference in San Antonio. Pro-education state and local leaders will speak out on how we can turn the tide back toward investing in the future of our children, and on Saturday, workshops will be held that will equip you to support and spread a pro-education agenda in your community.
In the Friday night session, held at the Northside ISD Activity Center (7001 Culebra Road), I will join Mayor Julian Castro, Rep. Mike Villarreal, state Superintendent of the Year Dr. John Folks of Northside ISD, and high school student activist Connor Brantley, among others, to declare our support for turning back the cuts and how to do it. (Dinner will be served.)
On Saturday, at Holmes High School (6500 Ingram Rd.), workshops include such topics as Understanding the Education Funding Crisis, Developing and Supporting Pro-Education Legislators, Sharpening the Education Message, How to Hold a House/Neighborhood Meeting plus a special youth track for high school and college students. A panel discussion with San Antonio area school superintendents and school board members is also planned. (Box lunches will be provided.)
The registration fee is $20 in advance or $25 at the door, and scholarships are available, but space is limited, so sign up now! You may also register individually for Friday or Saturday only.
Don't miss this important event! But whether you attend or not, get involved with defending our public schools! Go to savetxschools.org to learn how, and to register for the conference.
First in our in-box with a post-Perry campaign statement is Rep. Mike Villareal. The San Antonio legislator is a champion of public education here in Texas.
Statement from State Representative Mike Villareal:
"I welcome the Governor back to Texas. I would be happy to fill him in on all the things that he missed while he was gone, from the harm done by his education cuts to the state's struggles for clean air and water. While he was campaigning, students in thousands of elementary schools have been crowded into classrooms that exceed the state's standard class size limit due to education cuts he championed. The state is facing multiple lawsuits because of a school finance system that fails to meet constitutional muster and treats kids unfairly just because of the school district they live in. We are headed towards a second summer of water shortages while the state's water plan is unfunded. We hit #1 among all states for most greenhouse gas emissions. The state has not taken any steps to fill the hole in the revenue system that pays for schools, roads, water, and other essentials. I believe Texas should be leading the way on education and clean air and water, not lagging behind. I'm sure the Governor is ready to get back to work to prevent the state from remaining in worse shape than he found it when he first entered the Governor's Office."
(Tremendous initiative by State Senator Kirk Watson. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
Earlier today, I delivered a speech declaring that it’s time for a medical school, teaching hospital and research institute in Austin. I also outlined the process I’m proposing to finally get it done after all these years, as well as the group I’ve put together to lead the effort.
Below, you'll see the text of the first part of the speech, along with links to other sections of it (for a full version, go here).
This is going to be a long effort involving a whole lot of people. But the economic and quality-of-life payoff, for Austin and all of Central Texas, would be enormous. I hope you’ll keep an eye on it, help with it, and join this community effort to make this long-sought vision a reality.
Dear White House Administration and those with disabilities in Higher Education - What positive changes have taken place sense fall 2008?
I have never returned to any campus for fear of retaliation. Is it safe to return and can I bring my guns back to my farm so the police cannot make an excuse for "due cause?"
Unlike our Governor Rick Perry who has 24/7 armed security protection paid for by the state, we really do have a Coyote infestation and an occasional rabid animal. A three foot copper head just bit my dog on the nose yesterday before I step on it! Once in a while we have a Private Security Firm creeping around in the dark like lone wolves of terrorism!
Speak Up or Forever Hold Your Peace! Letters to the White House Administration [edited] by G N O'Dell 04/15/2010
Higher Education ADA regulations have become so overwhelming burdensome that they no longer aid the disabled student with equal access to colleges and universities, which is the original ADA Act legislative intent enforced by the Office of Civil Rights.
If you have had the misfortune of participation in the process, you will have experience retaliation not only from the school that you filed against but the Office of Civil Rights.
If you have the misfortune of living in a succession philosophy state such as Texas, and file a grievance, you will be targeted by Private Security firms funded by the 911 Patriot act for terrorism, and will be investigated as if you are an enemy of the State. The Office of Civil Rights as well, will use of the 911 Patriot Act against you and is an unnecessary expense- a wasteful burden on tax payer. Do I need to mention the consequences of the poor student who is attacked by this type of retaliation for filing an ADA grievance?
"If I ever lose my mouth, all my teeth north and south, I won't have to talk no more!" (Cat Stevens)"
The way it once worked, and it did work much more efficiently, was the right for a student to declare a Handicap to his classroom professor before, or the first few days of class, then the professor could make an assessment concerning the disability and try to find a way the student could complete all the tasks and be honored with the same credit value after completion of the course just like any other student.
Example: A student with an amputated foot should have the right to approach the professor of Physical Education Class and declare his/her handicap and the professor can make an informal assessment by understanding the students impairment and modify the curriculum in a way that would demand more or equal participation that would satisfy the course just as any student with both feet.
After successful completion of the course by the disabled student, credit for the course would hold the same value as any other student.
The way it works now [Fall 2008], the student must register with the department of disabilities, and once that is done, given a visa as if to walk the campus or attend a class, the disabled student is treated as if a foreign national that must show his visa on demand. Prior to 2008, and it may still be a practice, all disabled students registered with the department of disability were considered having a mental illness, even if the disability was/is an amputated foot.
Students should have an opportunity to opt out of college disability registration and declare a handicap with the professor of a particular class without any formalities or repercussions and ensures that the disabled student's diploma at the end of the 4-8 year process has the same value as any other student.
Certainly, there are many cases were the student is dependent on the services of the campus disability office and should use those services and be free to file an ADA grievance, just as a student that has disclosed an informal handicap request to his professor without the fear of retaliation!
The biggest problem that we have seen is there are some students that are severely mentally impaired and could be a danger on campus. There is only one way to solve this problem and that is that every student (each and every one) are required to submit a mental health certification at the time of registration. If birds that do not have wings cannot fly, then it is just a fact of life that those that suffer from mental illness that could be a danger to others should not be registered on a college campus in the first place.
Lastly, a student should be able to by-pass disability campus registration with the disability office by declaring themselves with a handicap and make minor reasonable request such as a chair or those things that are not an overwhelmingly burdensome on the school.
Any person that believes the disabled are protected by the ADA act as if they are no longer mistreated, abused, raped, killed, retaliated, discriminated against, and protected by law are complete fools and I believe the money invested in the DOJ Office of Civil Rights Disability office is a complete waste of funding because it is totally ineffective [As of Fall 2008].
Why do I believe that the DOJ Office of Civil Rights is ineffective [April 2010]? The principles and ideologies where set into place to win the election of George Bush Senior without the consultation of those that are disabled and the appointments to that office and workers should be those suffering by a disabling condition who are by-far the experts in the knowledge of what the DOJ should base their founding principles and ideologies.
Further, the hiring of disabled experts in management positions of the DOJ can rewrite and rebuild a better cost effective program that works and the attorneys assigned to enforce the law would actually represent (work for) the disabled and would be chastised or terminated for trading personal political favors to play down important cases that would make the ADA work like it should.
This same approach can be applied to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; however, I never see anyone with a disability working in these offices; especially in a management or chief directive office of these departments.[In Texas we have one exception but he is an elected official, Greg Abbot Texas Attorney General]
If you cannot get a job in the government organization that writes the laws of affirmative action, how can you expect the private sector to hire the disabled if our government officials do not take the lead and hire these highly qualified experts in the area of the disability concerns, that far exceeds the criteria that is used to hire or appoint to these offices.
"Rick Perry is no friend of public education, and that is direct threat to our economy and a generation of young Texans." -- Rita Haecker, TSTA President
On the day that Rick Perry's 2011 budget takes effect, the Texas State Teachers Association released a searing statement on Rick Perry's abandonment of Texas schools, teachers, and students.
The highlights in their run-down of Rick Perry's war on students and teachers include:
Perry's budget cuts $4 billion from school district formula funding.
This budget cuts $1.4 billion in education grants, including Pre-K and dropout prevention.
49,000 school employees may lose their jobs within a year.
43,000 returning college students will lose financial aid.
Texas teacher pay ranks 31st nationally.
Per-student funding in Texas ranks in the bottom third of all states.
TSTA also reminds us that Perry refused to spend $6.5 billion in the Rainy Day fund to fund public education.
Education is crucial to the future of Texas. Our economy depends on sufficiently educated, innovative workers to keep pace with the global economy.
It is shameful that Rick Perry seeks short-term political gain by slashing the education budget, at the expense of the short- and long-term good of the people of Texas.
(Ben is one of our new BOR writers. He'll be helping cover Perry's campaign, and provide issue primers like this. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
About one in ten American schoolchildren are Texan schoolchildren. Clearly, Texas must maintain an effective public education system for its own and the United States' sake. Rick Perry doesn't care.
Since 2000, enrollment in Texas public schools has increased by 874,000 to 4.9 million schoolchildren.
As Texas' schools were rapidly filling up five years ago, Perry mandated a gratuitous 33% cut in local school tax rates. Now, a shocking one in three Texas high school graduates in college require corrective work to learn math, writing and reading skills that their high schools couldn't afford to teach them.
But that was just the groundwork for Perry. When his own fiscal mismanagement led to a $27 billion budget shortfall this year, Perry used the opportunity to slash public education even more.
During the Legislative session, Perry pushed for and received a $4 billion cut from the public education budget, prompting tens of thousands of teacher layoffs across the state. This kind of buffoonery can only lead one place. "Heading into the new fiscal year, Texas ranked 42nd in per-pupil spending among U.S. states and 43rd in high-school graduation rates," Bloomberg News explains.
Is this terrible reality a product of Rick Perry's stupidity? Maybe not.
Perry recently suggested that our government's founding fathers' dedication to the "general welfare" doesn't mean that government programs have a right to promote the general welfare. Under Perry's insane view, public education is treated as unimportant.
As a high school student in Green Bay, Wisconsin, I had an incredible amount of potential but was completely uninterested in academics, leaving me with few options upon graduating. Top private colleges were out of the question, and I didn't want to attend another public institution. I saw a flyer for Herzing University, which prompted me to look into the school. I liked what the school had to offer, and after a trip to the campus in Madison, I decided to enroll.
Shortly after I began classes, I found out I was going to be a father. I faced the difficult decision of whether I could both stay in school or leave to help provide for my newborn child. In the end, I didn't have to choose, Herzing helped me to find a job at a local factory after my classes, and helped me schedule for work and school. When my son's mother's substance abuse problems left me as a single father, I had to take on another part-time job to make ends meet. Even then, Herzing helped me design a course program that allowed me to work both jobs, attend school and spend time with my infant son. The administration frequently checked in with me to see how I was doing, and my instructors helped me in any way they could.
The current legislative session has been described as possibly the "worst in recent memory" for Latino Texans. What are likely coalitions that might be able to mitigate the budget cut proposals under consideration?
To figure this out, I visualized Texas county data matching Latino population density and per capita budget cuts. Demographic data on total population and Hispanic density is based on 2010 Census data made available at the Texas Tribune data portal. Projected budgets cuts are based on Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) estimates; the $10 billion cut scenario was utilized for the Medicaid visualization. My complete source file can be found here.
Let's start with public education. The blue line represents the state average per capita K12 cut: $127. The 2010 Census data indicated that Texas is 38% Hispanic, so counties above that are above average in terms of Latino density. Finally, the larger the size of the bubble, the larger the plotted county's total population. Examining the chart yields that a likely best strategy for pro-education advocates is to build a coalition of Harris and Dallas-area county legislators along with targeted low population counties with high per capita cuts that are represented by conservative legislators.
On the Medicaid front, there is a stronger correlation between Latino density and size of per capita cuts. The average state cut is $406 under the $10 billion cut scenario. This is represented by the red line. Two Rio Grande Valley counties - Hidalgo and Cameron - are particularly hard hit under any of the CPPP scenarios. Legislators from the RGV might be able to form a pro-Medicaid coalition with the eclectic mix of small- to mid-size counties that also will be experiencing very high per capita cuts.
Overall, the current budget promises to wreak havoc on all of Texas, as well as disproportionately burden many Latino communities across the state. It is the culmination of years of reckless, ideologically-driven budgeting. Hopefully, the extreme nature of proposed cuts will create a space for new, surprising coalitions to propose a more balanced approached to repairing the budget mess. Such an approach would include use of the Rainy Day Fund and practical, fair revenue increases.
