State District Judge John Dietz declared Texas' public school funding system unconstitutional last Wednesday. Dietz said the $30 billion funneled into public schools each year by the state is inadequate to foot the educational bill.
The unconstitutionality of the current finance system is nothing new.
Gov. Rick Perry realized the system's flaw and tried to circumvent this kind of "judicial mandate" by throwing together a quick fix in last spring's special legislative session.
He failed.
Now Dietz is attempting to light a fire under Perry and the Legislature with an ultimatum; increase the flow of funds to education, or the courts will turn off the faucet.
Dietz's threat of injunction - which will pull all state funding from public education on approximately Oct. 1, 2005 - would likely have worked a few years ago. But, following the partisan battles over redistricting, this Legislature cannot work together.
If the court's ultimatum is not overturned or extended by a higher court, partisan squabbles will likely ruin any well-meaning school finance plan.
One needs to look no further than the last special session to see evidence of partisan animosity hindering progress - particularly in the House.
During the session, House leadership cut off all debate on the new funding bill after the first two amendments (which effectively turned the bill into an empty shell). House Democrats claimed the Republican leadership used the maneuver to silence their challenges to the bill's inadequacy.
In the Senate, debate over the inclusion of gambling revenues to help fund education was met with extreme measures. Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, threatened to use a catheter so she could filibuster the component without leaving the Senate floor.
Add to that a governor who refuses to deal with the public school finance issue without also implementing property tax relief, and you have a legislative disaster.
Perry spent as much (if not more) time working on cutting property taxes as increasing funding to public schools. His proposal attempted to make up for revenue lost in tax cuts with new sin taxes and various sales taxes.
The plan was unanimously rejected by the House.
So, somehow, the Legislature must increase funding to public education while decreasing state revenues, and it has to conform with Perry's strict demands - all in one year.
Maybe the Legislature can reconcile and step up to Dietz's challenge, but we wouldn't bet the education of every Texas child on it. Neither should the courts.
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