Special Session Update

It's doesn't looking like this special session will end with a deal on school finance. The two items I'm posting will once again show that as far as the leadership of this state is concerned the special session has nothing to do with making sure our schools are financed properly. It's about lowering property taxes, period! So do not keep wondering why the public schools are the way they are. If we don't fund them they will fall apart. It's just part of the long standing Republican/Conservative attempts to do away with social spending for the public good or as Grover Norquist said, “I'm not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” The first is from Greg Wythe posting on OffTheKuff, Back to Consensus-ville

Simply stated, there's not a position Rick Perry holds steadfast on, save for a property tax cut that pretty much everyone is for anyway. The problem, however, is twofold: for starters, you've got to make up that lost revenue somehow. Secondly, this was supposed to be about school finance first and foremost. Clearly, with Rick Perry, that's an afterthought.

The second is a Dallas Morning News Editorial, Turn the Lights On: Court taking center stage on school finance

Let's also be clear: The $3 billion in new money the Legislature offered schools in its regular session for the next two years – and appears likely to re-offer during this special session – insults students. It may not cover inflation, and a big chunk would go for teacher pay raises, not classrooms. The real amount should be $8 billion over two years, which legislators show no interest in providing.

Gov. Rick Perry and some lawmakers insist the Legislature must solve the problem. In a perfect world, they should. But the school funding mess has long left behind the world of perfection. The Supreme Court needs to intervene. It's time to get the real show on the road.

Now there is still time left and maybe there will be some miracle settlement, intended to make Gov. Perry look like he can lead. No matter what they come up with it is only a stop gap measure and we will be revisiting this issue again soon.