Perry's Math on School Spending Draws Fire

Lubbock, TX, Avalanche-Journal ^ | 02-06-04 | AP

[Theodore R.]

Perry's math on school spending draws fire

AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Rick Perry, as he has proposed financial incentives for public school achievement, has cited a figure of $10,400 a year per student as Texas' rate of spending on education.

He attributes the statistic to the National Education Association, the nation's largest teacher group. Perry argues that Texas already puts a lot of money into education, despite what critics say.

But a spokesman for the NEA's affiliate in the state, the Texas State Teachers Association, said the $10,400 figure does not appear in any NEA report and is actually a result of creative computing by the governor's aides, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.

"That is at best a disingenuous use of the statistics," said Richard Kouri of the state teachers association. He did not deny there were numbers in the NEA's annual report on school statistics that were used by Perry aides to arrive at the figure.

Financial records of the Texas Education Agency, the usual source of such numbers, showed that schools spent an average of $7,088 per student in 2002-03. The TEA showed average revenues of $6,919 per pupil, 34 percent lower than the governor's estimate.

"With their figures, they're trying to say that schools already have enough money," said Wayne Pierce, executive director of the Equity Center, an association of several hundred low- and medium-property-wealth school districts.

"I wish that were the case, but it's not," Pierce told the Morning News. "If school districts are getting $10,400 per student, then there are a lot of superintendents out there who want to know where the rest of their money is, because they need it desperately."

The national report the governor cited included a number called "total revenue receipts" for education in every state, listing Texas' amount at $40.7 billion.

Besides traditional revenue sources such as local property taxes, state funding and federal aid, the figure also included sources not typically included in comparisons.

For Texas, $5.3 billion was added just to reflect the value of new construction bonds issued by school districts that year. Also included were pension contributions. All of the amounts were furnished to the NEA by the state.

The governor's aides simply divided the $40.7 billion by the state's average daily attendance to come up with $10,400 in revenues per pupil. State education groups said the calculation is misleading and ignores a more important statistic in the most recent NEA report, issued last fall.

It showed Texas ranked 33rd among the states last year in annual spending per pupil at $7,152. That number was below the national average of $7,829.

Perry is expected to call a special session this spring to fix the state's school finance system and enact new education reforms. In addition to pressure from school districts and a lawsuit by districts pending in state court, lawmakers were warned by the Texas Supreme Court last year that the funding system is on the verge of collapse.

Perry has said he will support more funding for public schools during the special session, but he wants the additional money spent on financial incentives for schools that improve student achievement and lower dropout rates. He is proposing incentives that could total $500 million.

But school boards and superintendents across the state insist that all districts need more money and contend the state's share of overall school funding has dropped to historic lows.

"The governor has made it clear that he believes we need to get maximum performance for our education dollars, and he believes one way to do that is to offer teachers and schools incentives based on student achievement," said Robert Black, a spokesman for the governor. "If these (education) organizations are opposed to that, they need to explain to Texas parents why their children shouldn't be achieving more in school."

[whipitgood]

Texas schools in the DFW area are being over run with immigrants. Expect huge increases in spending to get the new kids breakfast, remedial English, lunch, insurance, after school care and extra health care.

[valkyrieanne]

My understanding is that the middle class in Texas either homeschools or sends its children to private schools, leaving the public schools with the immigrants and culturally deprived children of single-parent families.

[17th Miss Regt]

The figure for government per pupil spending should be $0.00.

[valkyrieanne]

So who is supposed to educate the children without parents, or whose parents won't homeschool them or send them to private school?

[17th Miss Regt]

Get rid of the public schools. The free market will create schools much better than the public schools and for much less money. That takes care of those that don't want to homeschool or send their kids to a private school - all schools will be private. As for those who don't have parents, the state can provide vouchers for a private school, if the free market has not already dealt with this matter.