Every child in Texas should have the same tools

Here we go again. Yes, folks, that wonderful bunch of political lightweights we call state Legislators are gathering next month (April 17th) to try to do something they haven’t been able to do in two regular sessions and three special sessions: fix the state’s unconstitutional and unfair public school financing mess.

Governor Perry has had no success on this issue since he took over the mansion from George W. Bush. So will this fourth special session be the charm? The only thing that might – and I emphasize might – get the Legislature to move, is a looming Texas Supreme Court deadline of June 1, 2006. If the problem is not solved by that day, the court can simply declare the whole state system unconstitutional and close the doors.

Also on the not-so-distant horizon is the General Election in November and the nasty mood of voters when they perceive that the politicians in Austin have not done their jobs. The fear of losing their jobs may motivate them more than a threat to shut down schools statewide. That is a sad fact by itself!

There are many proposals out there to try to deal with this mess; the principal one being from a blue ribbon panel appointed by the governor called the Texas Tax Reform Commission. They are proposing a broad-based business franchise tax, higher cigarette taxes and other smaller fee increases. This is to offset the loss of local property taxes which will drop about a third.

Local property taxes are the bane of home owners and are now among the highest in the country. Do not expect the corporations and law firms and doctors to part with their money easily – even for the good of the children. They have already geared up and will be spending millions of dollars to fight these proposals which will make most of them pay taxes for the first time.

Rep. Warren Chisum from Pampa has proposed that the state surplus for emergencies be used and the property tax rate decreased by 15 percent. That is a short-sighted, temporary solution to a long-term, never-ending problem. And 15 percent is not even close to giving property owners a break.

The only real long-term solution is one that gives legislators nightmares: either doing away with the LOCAL school tax and replacing it with an across-the-board, state-wide EQUAL property tax for ALL property in Texas, or a state income tax.

There, I said the three most dreaded words in Texas —state income tax. But I would not advocate this WITHOUT a reduction of the sales tax and the property tax. If you reduce those accordingly and have a graduated progressive income tax, it would be much fairer on the average Texan. But since rich folks seem to control the political system, don’t expect any such common sense approaches to emerge any time soon.

Of course, it all makes sense if you don’t really believe in a public education system. I honestly would like to know how many of our state representatives and senators have children in private education facilities. I think it’s a fair question to ask. If you do not believe in a good, well-financed public education system in Texas, just say so and I’ll accept that. In fact, being as I have no children and never will have any – here is another radical proposal: Do away with public education in Texas.

If you want to send your kid to school, be my guest. Just don’t ask me to help pay for it! “No Child Without a Private Education” has a nice ring to it. No taxes and no vouchers and no public help of any kind. That would save me lots of money.

Do I really like that idea? No, I’m not that selfish. I believe in taking care of the future. And that includes giving EVERY child in Texas the very best education that we can. That also means EVERY child in Texas, regardless of their circumstances of birth or where they live, must have the same tools and resources as every other kid. There should be no difference in “rich” or “poor” districts. All districts should have the very best that our society can give them. Every society has choices which change the future – for better or worse. We can either educate our future generations or we can watch our standard of living decrease to the level of any third world country. Which will the Texas Legislature choose? Given the history of Texas and knowing the “Leg” as I do – my hopes DO NOT spring eternal!