Reform, But Not Right Now

On Wednesday, February 22, 2012 the Editorial Board of the Austin American-Statesman published a column entitled "An Appropriate Adieu to Demands for Special Session on School Finance."  The authors state in no uncertain terms that Texas Governor Rick Perry's decision not to call a special session to discuss school finance is a good thing.  It seems the ladies and gentlemen responsible for this editorial are tired of the effects of politics on the education of our children.

This editorial was published in the Austin American-Statesman, a liberal-leaning newspaper in my experience.  This makes it likely that the screed I am discussing was intended for Democrats and others fed up with the Republican majority in the Texas State Legislature.  This is borne out by the treatment of Republicans versus Democrats within the piece.  "Democrats have been calling for a special session . . . because of the effects of the school finance bill approved in 2011."  Republican legislators "would not be in a mood to do anything that might resemble increased spending . . ." 

As the editorial board of the largest daily newspaper in the capitol of Texas, I believe the authors have likely seen the political wranglings of several biennial legislative sessions, giving them a fairly deep pool of observations from which to draw.  Both houses of the Texas Legislature have been in the control of the Republican party since 2003, so Democrats have had nearly a decade to stew, especially since nearly every other state office is held by a Republican.

The main focus of this editorial is the idea that, though likely necessary, a special session on school finance during an election cycle would be doomed to ineffectiveness at best.  Speaking to the necessity of a special session, the authors offer the recent experiences of the Hutto ISD as evidence.  In the authors' opinion, the 2011 school finance bill "did not fund enrollment growth."  As a result, Hutto is considering charging students to ride the bus, reducing its staff and even having teachers clean.  New financing is needed to prevent Hutto's situation from becoming the statewide norm.

The Editorial Board's evidence for the likelihood of the proposed special session being toothless draws heavily on past experience in observing political behavior.  The authors claim the timing of the proposed special session is poor.  Addressing pressing needs in school finance during an election year would produce few, if any results.  The authors claim that retiring legislators might make radical decisions, because no one could vote them out of office.  Republican incumbents seeking reelection would never risk losing that election by supporting increased spending.  These arguments arise from time spent observing the political arena, and, though tinged with Liberalism, seem to me to be sound.

Texas schools are in trouble.  I don't think Democrats or Republicans would dispute that.  Democrats want to spend money to ameliorate the issue, and it seems Republicans want to better spend the money currently allocated.  While I find this latter strategy dubious, throwing money around irresponsibly won't help either.  It is sad that our children are being stretched over a political barrel.  Something courageous needs to happen, but I agree with the Editorial Board of the Statesman:  attempting to fix the problem while the politicians tasked with reform are busy trying to keep their jobs is likely a no-win scenario.