Action Alert on School-Finance Bill in Texas Senate!

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Action Alert on School-Finance Bill in Texas Senate!

Senate Bill 22 is the school-finance enabling legislation for a bad Senate budget plan. Like the budget plan, it deserves a “NO” vote from senators concerned about the future of public education in Texas. An attempt to pass the bill is expected on Monday, May 9.

Please call your senator as early in the day Monday, May 9, as possible, to urge him or her to vote “NO” on any motion to bring up SB 22 for a vote. So call early tomorrow and urge your senator to take a strong stand against this inadequate Senate budget plan.

The Texas AFT toll-free line to the state capitol switchboard is 1-888-836-8368. Just give the operator your senator’s name and ask to be connected. Click here to find out who represents you.

Here are major points you can make if you have time:

1. This bill creates the implementation mechanism for deep cuts in state aid to school districts (averaging $400 per pupil annually) prescribed by the Senate budget plan.

2. The Senate budget proposal and SB 22 are two sides of the same coin. The author of the Senate budget says without SB 22 the education cuts in the budget “won’t work.” Senators therefore should regard their “NO” vote as a vote to apply pressure to put improved education funding into the 2012-2013 budget.

3. SB 22 does not just enforce two years of deep budget cuts. It perpetuates--far beyond the 2012-2013 biennium--the deep cuts in state aid to school districts initiated by the two-year budget plan. It provides that deep cuts will continue indefinitely.

4. SB 22 falls short on equity, imposing significant cuts on already low-wealth districts. At the same time, the bill imposes large cuts on major urban districts with high concentrations of high-need, economically disadvantaged students. Both of these harmful aspects of the bill reflect the severity of the losses dictated by the Senate budget proposal.

Additional points supporting a "NO" vote on SB 22:

5. SB 22 is a potential vehicle for damaging amendments on both school finance and educational policy. Most if not all of SB 12, a bill that authorizes salary reductions, furloughs, and layoffs and undercuts teachers’ contract safeguards, could be amended onto SB 22.

6. In combination, SB 22 and SB 12 let the state "solve" the long-term deficit in school funding at the expense of students and teachers, by allowing the state to evade the need to restore state aid for public education for the foreseeable future. SB 22 implements deep funding cuts; SB 12 invites school districts to adapt by reducing services, reducing staff, and reducing salaries for years to come (as well as by curtailing teachers' contract protections permanently).

Positive features of SB 22 do not outweigh its defects:

7. SB 22 was amended in committee to preserve the provision of existing law that authorizes a $500 annual state pay supplement for each school support employee, which helps these lower-paid employees afford health insurance offered by their school-district employers. This amendment by Senator West improved the bill. But agreeing merely to maintain current law on this issue does not alter the overall adverse impact of the deep cuts in school aid perpetuated by SB 22.


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