06/01/04 -- For Texas lawmakers, overhauling the state's school finance system and finding more money for public education has proven too tough an issue to crack -- at least for now.
At a special legislative session called by Gov. Rick Perry, lawmakers spent four weeks debating various tax schemes before going home May 17 without taking action. State officials say they simply need more time to tackle the issues.
"When you add the elements of cutting property tax, improving equity, increasing the amount of money to schoolchildren, you create the most complex issue we see in this state," Senate Finance Committee Chair Steve Ogden said at a press conference last month. "We simply need more time."
If the legislators take too much time, however, they could find the courts making some decisions for them. A lawsuit challenging the school finance system, brought by more than 200 school districts, is set to go to trial Aug. 9.
Going to court was seen as necessary to force a resolution on the problem of school finance, says Ray Freeman, superintendent of the Itasca Unified School District and chair of the Alvarado Plaintiffs, one group of school systems, parents, and students who are suing the state.
"The two biggest problems are improving the equity of the system and adding capacity so everyone can be appropriately funded," he says. "There's no revenue to address the issue of adequately educating kids."
One reason the legislature failed to find a solution was a push by some lawmakers to cut property taxes -- a challenging task in a state with no income tax. Despite talk of higher sales and business taxes and other revenue-generating ideas, lawmakers could find no way to replace property taxes that provide the bulk of school funding.
The debate over property tax relief doomed the hope for finance reform, says Wayne Pierce, executive director of the Equity Center, which advocates for more funding for property-poor school systems.
"The premier issue for our state leadership is how can we reduce property taxes and how can we end Robin Hood [the state's school equity funding formula]," he says. "The issue should be how we can take the children who are in districts that are funded at the lowest levels and improve their educational opportunities. That was largely missing from the debate."
The Robin Hood system, which takes money from property-wealthy districts and shares it with poorer districts, was created by the state legislature in 1993 after the state Supreme Court ordered a more equitable system of funding the schools.
The system worked for several years, but after many school systems hit a cap on raising property taxes and state education funding lagged, the spending gap between the richest and poorest school districts ballooned. Today, the gap is about $1,000 per child -- or $450,000 for a 660-student elementary school.
Buck Woods, lead counsel for the Alvarado Plaintiffs, says he expects the legislature will do little until forced by the courts, if only so lawmakers can blame the courts if they have to make unpopular tax decisions. He expects an initial court ruling this fall, before the fight advances to the Texas Supreme Court next year.
"I believe there's a very significant chance that we're going to get a judgment that the system is inadequate, the [state academic] standards are too low, and the state is going to have to fund what it takes to achieve those standards," he says. "I'm optimistic."