Posted on 05/10/2007 3:07:22 PM PDT by Cat loving Texan
House votes to put teacher pay before tax cut
By KELLEY SHANNON Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN — The Texas House, faced with a decision on further reducing school property tax rates, gave tentative approval Thursday to a measure that would give teachers a $6,000 pay raise before the reduction could kick in.
There's no money in the bill for the teacher pay raise, which also would apply to full-time librarians, counselors and school nurses. The leader of the Senate declared the raise proposal dead.
Democratic Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco added the teacher pay provision, with the overwhelming approval of the House. It essentially thwarts the proposed tax reduction, which would have taken property tax rates from $1 per $100 valuation down to 91 cents.
"It does get in the way of the tax cut. That's exactly what it's designed to do," said Rep. Ken Paxton, the McKinney Republican who pushed the tax reduction proposal. He said he hopes the legislation can be restored to its original intent when it reaches the Senate.
Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the leader of the Senate, said he doesn't see any chance of the bill passing with the teacher pay proposal in it. He said a $6,000 raise per year would mean $5 billion more for the two-year budget cycle.
"And while I want to raise teachers' salaries, as we did in the special session this past May, I think it's going to be hard for us to come up with that kind of money," Dewhurst said.
Texas legislators reduced school property taxes last year from a maximum $1.50 down to $1 as part of a school finance package.
The new proposal by Paxton and several other influential Republicans would have given the additional tax cut beginning in September. It would have cost the state an estimated $2.5 billion over the two-year budget cycle.
Dunnam and other Democrats argued there were more pressing needs for the money.
"This is where you put your money where your mouth is," Dunnam said, urging fellow House members to side with him on the teacher raise amendment. "My fourth-grader understands it — she understands her teacher ought to get paid."
House members voted 113-25 in favor of the amendment, with some of those who spoke against it even voting for the politically popular proposal. Then the House voted 131-5 for preliminary approval of the overall Paxton bill.
Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick noted afterward that the Legislature last year in a special session approved a $2,000 pay raise for teachers, counselors, librarians and school nurses.
"I think that the members of the House are very supportive of a teacher pay raise, and I think they're very supportive of a property tax cut," Craddick said.
The 57,000-member Texas Federation of Teachers praised the House action.
"A solid majority of the Texas House today sent a clear message to legislative leaders that improving teacher pay is an urgent priority — one that must not be neglected at a time when the state has billions of dollars of available revenue," said federation president Linda Bridges.
An American Federation of Teachers salary survey showed that the average Texas teacher salary in 2005, the latest year available, was $41,009, compared with the national average of $47,602. Since then Texas teachers were given the $2,000 across-the-board raise last year.
The conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation criticized the decision in a statement, saying it holds tax relief hostage to massive spending and predicting that taxpayers will be outraged.
"With a $14.2 billion surplus, there has never been a better time to return at least some of that money to the people who paid it. The Dunnam amendment now makes that impossible," former legislator Talmadge Heflin said on behalf of the group.
The tax cut bill is HB 2785.
Unfortunately your fourth grader economics and labor whiz is just another ignorant and useful tool of the teachers union just like their parent
Here they go again making comparisons as if demographics and state economy count for nothing. It's the greed factor. Everyone can find someone who makes more than them except for Bill Gates.
14% payraise on top of a pay raise last year. Wow.
I should be so lucky.
Legislators are grappling with reforming our school finance system. It’s a daunting task, with as many twists and turns as a Six Flags roller-coaster and as frustrating as trying to keep second graders quiet during recess.
On one side of the debate are the education union lobbyists seeking more dollars for education, and on the other side are taxpayers demanding more education for their dollars. And our school children are locked in the middle.
Teacher pay represents the latest hurdle for legislators.
Before we leap, let’s look at the facts. Just how do Texas teachers fare in comparison to teachers in other states or in comparison to other professions?
According to the American Federation of Teachers, Texas teacher salaries are 17th in the country when adjusted for cost of living.
While per-pupil spending in Texas is above average, thirty-one states spend a greater percentage of their education dollars on teacher salaries. And Texas spends an average of only 50 cents of every education dollar on instruction, which includes teacher salaries.
Still teachers enjoy perks, which many other professions don’t offer. The Education Code stipulates that teachers officially work 187 days per year while most workers spend 235 days a year on the job. Currently, teachers are paid for longevity but not relative to results.
Teachers are local school district employees, not state employees. That hasn’t kept the state from providing salary increases and monkeying with teacher health insurance, but perhaps it is time we think outside the box and consider reforming the education delivery system.
Like all individuals, teachers understand and respond to incentives. No doubt we could attract and retain good teachers if we provide them with more autonomy in the classroom, reduce the administrative oversight, and pay the best teachers as much as we pay administrators.
But is revenue the issue?
According to the National Education Association Texas ranked second among 50 states in total per capita local public education expenditures for 2002-03 and third among the 50 states in public education expenditures as a percentage of total state expenditures. The National Education Association says that education spending represents over 36% of our entire state budget, and according to AFT, around 38% of the total education spending in Texas goes to teacher salaries.
A 2002 AFT report found the since 1966, the percentage of education spending devoted to teacher salaries has continued to decline.
The Texas Education Agency’s facts may reveal we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Texas public school districts spent 31% more per student in fiscal year 2003 than in fiscal year 1997. Yet the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that Texas’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased only 13% in that period, and according to Education News, in five years, superintendent salaries have grown an unbelievable 77%.
Where is the funding going if not to the classroom?
With the average of around one non-teaching staff for every teacher, overhead is high. Also, taxpayers are becoming aware of the waste, fraud and abuse in education systems. One website where examples of wasteful spending are identified is the Educators Witness Protection Program. That website even includes testimonials from individuals who were harassed when they dared challenge their school district’s spending.
One could argue that over the past 40 years, taxpayers have provided the public education system with steady improvements in funding, teacher pay, and lower student/teacher ratios, but the student outcomes have not improved measurably.
It’s time to consider new solutions.
First, school district officials need to set spending priorities. The priority should be to educate Texas children – and to direct dollars to the classroom first. It is a travesty that only 50 cents of every education dollar gets to the classroom. Teacher salaries are part of the calculation of classroom costs, according to the TEA.
Second, as we address teacher pay, perhaps the question should not be multiple choice: A) across-the-board pay increases; B) support merit pay or C) incentive pay initiatives. Clearly, the right answer is B or C. But the right question might be how can we provide improved student outcomes for our expenditures.
Third, we must be bold. New Zealand instituted an interesting and radical reform. They eliminated all school boards and essentially made every public school self-governing. The funding was provided to each school with no strings attached. Then all parents were provided the ability to put their child in any school – private or public – at public expense.
And what happened? Did hell freeze over? No, it appears that once those changes were instituted, student performance improved.
Short of totally revamping the education system – which merits consideration – Texas legislators could take another approach that would provide complete local control.
For example, state funds could go directly to schools with no stipulations except that they be spent on instruction, including teacher pay. Local dollars could then be used to pay for other educational expenses, like administrative salaries, transportation, and other expenses. Then if parents wanted to determine the educational environment where their children have the greatest opportunity to learn, the parent could use the state funding at the school of their choice.
Perhaps the legislature should not be determining how much we should pay teachers but how we can provide more parental choice, greater teacher autonomy and local control.
Peggy Venable is the Texas director of Americans for Prosperity, a grassroots organization that educates and mobilizes citizens committed to limiting the size and scope of government and preserving individual freedom.
You think this is bad, wait until they all retire and you have to pay their unfunded pensions... that is what is killing us here in PA. There is a cry for reform, so “reform” leglislation passed, LOL. It consists of raising income taxes to stabilize property taxes, and no increases of more than (10% ?) in the annual school budgets without the approval of the voters... except for the three areas of greatest growth (including pension payouts) which are all exempt. Damned politicians make me ill!!
There wasn’t a pay raise last year. The TX House and Senate never got on the same page on education last year.
How could anyone be surprised at this?
If one were to take up a collection from amongst Republican Texas house and senate members It would be VERY difficult to collect ONE complete spine from the entire group!
The only thing thats really changed in Austin is the money from the North Austin lobbyist now flows into a different set of pockets.
That's how it is everywhere in the country. Republicrats and Demolicans aren't fighting over ideology, taxes, or anything else. They are fighting over who gets the loot.
Take the $47,602 national average
minus $41, 009 Texas average
equals $6,593: the difference other states pay because of state income tax
Oh, that number is correct enough, but probably on the low side:
the budget surplus has been stated to be as high as $18 billion, and they fully intend to keep and spend every dime!
It’s time for Republicans in Texas to have some primary opponents!
I don’t believe that for a minute. Teachers get paid by state government spending money on them. Where the state gets their money has nothing to do with it. It could be sales tax, property tax or, as you say, state income tax. The sky’s the limit when it comes to states funding education.
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