Texas Republicans eye tax cuts over school funding despite $32 billion surplus

The Republican majority in the Texas state legislature declined to give schools any additional funding this year, despite the state having a $32 billion surplus, leading one schools superintendent to grant modest pay raises to teachers even if it causes deficit spending, and a state-installed superintendent to announce cuts of up to 600 jobs. Lawmakers in the Lone Star State are focused on tax cuts.

Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott has called on lawmakers in special session to cut property taxes and expand the state’s school voucher program, as the Texas Tribune reported last month.

“Lawmakers didn’t approve extra money this year to help schools balance their budgets or pay for raises, despite having an unprecedented $32 billion surplus in their hands — and even after Gov. Greg Abbottcommissioned a task force last year to improve teacher pay and retention,” the Tribune added Monday. “The political fight over school vouchers derailed the only school funding bill that had a chance of passing.”

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Temple Independent School District Superintendent Bobby Ott told The Texas Tribune, “We’ve taken the position that in the absence of state leadership, we’re going to take care of our staff, even if it means that we have a deficit budget.”

To give teachers a slim 3% increase will cost the district about $2 million. The money will come from cuts elsewhere and from the school district’s savings.

Meanwhile over in Houston, the state-installed schools superintendent, a former charter schools CEO who also ran the Dallas schools district, announced on Friday cuts of 500-600 jobs, KTRK reported.

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“This is about making sure we ‘right-size’ central office and also work most efficiently. You’ve seen in other presentations that the central office numbers and expenditures have increased 61% in six years,” Houston ISD superintendent Mike Miles told KTKR.

The Texas Tribune adds, “Miles estimated the cuts from academic departments total 30% of current positions, about 3% of which were already vacant.”

“Reorganizations are hard. There are real people behind the numbers,” Miles said Friday. “We want to make sure that we do this in a way that’s respectful but also in enough time for people to apply for other jobs.”

The Tribune also reports that “Miles has been vocal about trimming a central office he described as ‘bloated’ and ‘amorphous’ upon his appointment last month to run Houston ISD by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. But Friday’s announcement offered the first glimpse into which departments will be impacted by his plans.”

On Thursday the Austin-American Statesman reported, Texas House Democrats “unveiled a $20.9 billion plan to deliver property tax relief to Texans through tax compression, increasing the homestead exemption and offering renters annual rebates. The new plan would also build annual teacher pay raises into the state’s school financing system.”

The bill’s sponsor, Democratic state Rep. John Bryant, said: “Our effort is one that recognizes that you can’t talk about property taxes without talking about public education.”