Public Ed Doubles Down with ‘All and Nothing’ School Funding
'Pro-Public Education' Republicans Reject Generous Package to Thwart ESAs
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
The public education industry got its way when 21 Texas House Republicans joined with Democrats to neuter a major education bill (House Bill 1) over its inclusion of an Education Savings Account provision yet they are still complaining.
What’s the rub?
Per The Texas Tribune, the HB 1 gamesmanship caused severe repercussions:
After the Legislature failed to pass public school funding in this year’s regular session, despite a record budget surplus, many school districts were forced into deficit budgets to keep up with costs. Underfunding has forced some districts to close cafeterias, cut extracurricular activities, and in some cases, shut down schools altogether.
The article further quotes Paige Williams, legislative director for the Texas Classroom Teachers Association, as claiming that should additional public school funding be pushed off until the 2025 legislative session, “some districts may even turn to parents and community members to help raise money for expenses like teacher pay raises.”
What shouldn’t be forgotten
The legislators who voted to remove the ESA funding from HB 1 knew they were killing the bill, at least for this session. And they knew what they were leaving on the table.
Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Brian Phillips provides an insightful description of public education’s “plight”:
The people who run Texas’ public schools have had it rough, I guess. They continually claim the schools are underfunded, that teachers aren’t supported, and the STAAR test and A-F Accountability ratings are unfair. But it seems the ultimate and most unacceptable indignity is the idea that they should be more responsive to parents – the very people they are supposed to serve.
He goes on to detail what “pro-public education” legislators left on the table:
The threat of parents no longer being trapped in failing schools must have struck tremendous fear into the hearts of school leaders. By eliminating ESAs, they have effectively stalled the bill, which is a shame. The proposal addressed many of the problems they were supposedly concerned about.
It added $7 billion in new funding, on top of the $6 billion in new money already appropriated and issued this year – making it the largest single education funding increase in state history. The proposal included significant support to recruit, retain, and reward the best teachers in Texas. It improved teacher work / life balance, offered a pathway to a six-figure salary, included a $4,000 bonus, increased the Basic Allotment, and created a residency program for aspiring new teachers. HB 1 also eliminated the STAAR test, phasing it out over 3 years and setting a path to replace it with a new and improved assessment system.
Alas, despite a historic increase in funding, new benefits for teachers, including a raise and a bonus for everyone, and rethinking school assessment, it seems that empowering parents was the bridge too far. School leaders and ESA opponents in the House were willing to forgo billions of dollars because a low-income parent in a chronically
Pretty amazing that Democrats and the 21 “pro-public education” Republicans are so committed to their cause that “all and nothing” is their only stance. That is, all the resources for public education and nothing for school choice advocates.
Nagging questions
Revisiting the school choice issue brings the return of nagging questions. After all, one thing about the Texas public education industry: it loves competition. Well, at least student competitions. But this begs the obvious question. If competition is such a meritorious endeavor, why not have it for all involved – including schools themselves?
And what of compromise? Seems a lesson the education industry resists learning. Perhaps because it’s motivated more by power and control than educating students who can mature to become productive adults?
An “all and nothing” approach is a loser for all involved. It’s a loser for schools, teachers, taxpayers, the public at large and most importantly, for students. And it’s not a good look as the education industry increasingly shows itself as more “for the system” than “for the children.”
Lou Ann Anderson worked in central Texas talk radio as both a host and producer and currently hosts Political Pursuits: The Podcast. Her tenure as Watchdog Wire–Texas editor involved covering state news and coordinating the site’s citizen journalist network. As a past Policy Analyst with Americans for Prosperity–Texas, Lou Ann wrote and spoke on a variety of issues including the growing issue of probate abuse in which wills, trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney are used to loot assets from intended heirs or beneficiaries.