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Outrages

  

9486 in the collection  

    Sweeping Changes to Schools Discussed

    Sweeping changes to schools discussed
    House committee offers ideas for changing the culture of public education in Texas but no cost estimates

    By Laylan Copelin

    Promising a cultural change in public education, lawmakers proposed Wednesday to double Gov. Rick Perry's teacher pay incentives, create a pilot voucher program and significantly cut local school property taxes.

    The House Select Committee on Public School Finance put no price tags on nine pages of suggestions except to say that $1 billion might be used to reward the best teachers who improve student performance.

    The governor has suggested about $500 million in incentives.

    Rep. Kent Grusendorf, the Arlington Republican who chairs the committee, said his panel would study the recommendations and be prepared to introduce legislation for a possible April 1 special session.

    "I think we have a very aggressive agenda," Grusendorf said. "I hope we can pass it all."

    The committee's $1 billion would come in addition to an estimated $9 billion a year that a committee witness warned is needed to eliminate the transfer of local property taxes between rich and poor school districts. David Thompson, a school finance lawyer, said he thought the Legislature would have to cut the maximum tax rate of $1.50 per $100 valuation to about 60 cents to end the current financing scheme.

    "If you are going to kill Robin Hood in its entirety, it's going to cost a lot of money," Thompson said, referring to the law that requires wealthier districts to share with poorer ones.

    Grusendorf said he generally agreed with Thompson's estimate. Behind the scenes, there is a heated debate between state officials over whether the Legislature is willing to raise state taxes to replace $8 billion to $9 billion in local property taxes.

    While avoiding that debate, the committee discussed the need for the state to automatically adjust school appropriations for inflation each year and to guarantee that no school district would get less money because of the April 1 special session.

    For teachers, the committee is considering paying bonuses to teachers who demonstrate the greatest improvement in their students' test scores and additional incentives to educators on outstanding campuses.

    Grusendorf foresees the state's best teachers earning bonuses as high as $10,000 to $15,000 while others get nothing extra. "We don't pay our really good teachers enough," he said.

    There also could be financial incentives for schools to graduate more students.

    The committee also recommended making it easier to dis- miss teachers who don't perform well. It also would make no changes in the current teacher health insurance program except to consider Health Savings Accounts, a federal proposal to allow individuals to save money tax-free for health care costs.

    The committee is also studying a pilot voucher program for "educationally and economically disadvantaged" children in large school districts, such as Austin. Last year Grusendorf sponsored a similar proposal that the Legislature killed.

    Brock Gregg of the Association of Texas Professional Educators said his organization is concerned with the committee's overall direction on teacher issues and vouchers.

    "The Legislature needs to fund our current reforms and restore cuts to public education from last session before we talk about changing the system," Gregg said. "Why build a new boat when you haven't taken care of the one that's sinking?"

    The committee is also considering changing how the state guarantees local school bonds.

    Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson, said the state is facing a crisis in escalating bond issues. He said the state-backed bond issues increased from $3 billion in 1991 to $29 billion today.

    To slow that growth, Hill suggested limiting the state-backed bonds to facilities used for instructional purposes. He also is recommending that the state drop a 1933 law that requires schools to pay prevailing wages for construction work.

    Finally, the committee will consider moving all extracurricular activities such as band, choir or sports outside of the regular school day so the focus would be on academics.

    lcopelin@statesman.com; 445-3617



    2004-02-19
    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/20/education/20CHIL.html

    INDEX OF OUTRAGES

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