“Good News for Texas Public Schools”
School Days, EducationNews.org
When Congressional budget writers on April 14, 2011, struck a deal to keep the federal government from shutting down, part of that deal was to give Texas the $830 million that should have been dispersed to Texas under the jobs bill in the summer of 2010. Texas Republican Congressmen were able to convince the other Congressmen that Texas had been unduly targeted by the Doggett Amendment.
What is the background on this $830 million in federal funding that is now being dispersed to Texas public schools?
Back before the Nov. 2, 2010 elections and before Congressman Chet Edwards and other Democrats were sent packing, they came up with a plan to appeal to their voter base in the urban districts.
When the jobs bill was passed in the summer of 2010, Democrats Chet Edwards, Lloyd Doggett, and other Texas Democrats decided to flex their political muscles and get kudos from their Democrat base by writing and passing the Doggett Amendment. However, the Doggett Amendment was illegal.
Under the Texas Constitution, the Governor of Texas cannot promise what the legislature will do with its future spending. He has no authority to ensure that the Texas Legislature will maintain school funding at the same level for three years as the Doggett Amendment required. Therefore, Gov. Rick Perry refused to make that promise to the U. S. Department of Education; and the funds were withheld from Texas.
The Doggett Amendment was actually designed to “throw the Texas school funding formula under the bus” and distribute the $830 million through Title I.
Other states were given the federal dollars in the jobs bill to distribute through any mechanism they so chose. Under the Doggett Amendment, Texas would have been required to distribute the money through Title I instead of through our normal Texas school funding formula.
The Texas legislature spent almost two years working out the school funding formula so that it would be as fair as possible to all school districts and taxpayers.
The difference in funding under Title I vs. the Texas school funding formula is that the large chunks of the $830 Million of federal money in the jobs bill would have gone to the urban schools where the biggest majority of Democrat voters live.
The suburban and rural schools would have received much less funding under Title I than they would have received under the Texas school funding formula.
Guess what? Most of the Republican voters live in the suburban and rural school districts.
The Doggett Amendment was purposely scripted by the Texas Democrat Congressmen to buy votes for Democrats in the Nov. 2010 elections.
Ironically the Texas Democrats’ plan backfired because Gov. Perry refused to break Texas law; the U. S. Department of Education did not grant Texas the $830 Million; and the voters on Nov. 2, 2010 threw Congressman Chet Edwards out of office.
Because of the Nov. 2010 elections, the face of Congress changed. Congressman Michael Burgess, Sen. John Cornyn, and other Republicans were able to make their case to prove that Texas had been deliberately targeted in the jobs bill by the Texas Democrats through the Doggett Amendment.
The $830 million in federal funds has now been made available to Texas public schools. However, the funds will be dispersed according to the Texas school funding formula instead of through the Title I mechanism.
“It was just wrong for Texas to be singled out and treated differently,” said U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Flower Mound. (Austin American-Statesman, 4.13.11)
Said Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, “It is welcome news for Texas students and teachers that this critical funding has been recovered after an untimely political stunt jeopardized these much-needed resources. Petty politics have no place in what should be an otherwise simple equation that fairly distributes federal education dollars to each state. Texas schools were unfairly penalized and left in the dark during one of their most challenging budgeting years to date.” (Austin American-Statesman, 4.12.11)
“You think politics doesn’t matter! Yes, politics does matter.” (Donna Garner, 5.11.11)
============
5.11.11 — Waco Tribune-Herald, “Federal funding plugs holes in school districts’ budgets:
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/Federal-funding-plugs-holes-in-school-districts-budgets.html
Used with the permission of EducationNews.org
-
GOP Challenger Bill Flores pulls ahead From Eric Dondero: Chet Edwards has been a thorn in... Read Full Story » -
Barack Obama is scheduled to appear with his new running mate tomorrow in Illinois, and he still... Read Full Story » -
Texas Congressman says libertarians "oppose children's health" A slip of the tongue? Or, a... Read Full Story »
