Posted on 04/23/2011 4:08:00 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Just two weeks after a bipartisan federal budget deal ended an eight-month impasse over $830 million in federal education funding, the U.S. Department of Education today agreed to send Texas the money that previously had been in dispute.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan quietly made the announcement late on Good Friday. But Texas Republicans immediately declared victory in a two-front political war that had been waged for many months.
....[Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville]..said he received word of the aid reversal during a conversation with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who had condemned the attempt by Texas congressional Democrats to attach strings to the federal funding.
Texas Democrats, led by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, had required the state to pledge that it would not divert the federal education funding to other sources as the legislature attempts to plug a yawning state budget shortfall...
Republicans said Doggett's measure violated states' rights and the U.S. constitution. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, who led Senate efforts to repeal Doggett's proposal, said the Education Department's action today righted a political wrong.
"I am very pleased that Texas teachers and students are now being treated fairly," she said. "The Texas Republican delegation, with strong leadership by Congressman Burgess, worked for months to undo the discriminatory Doggett amendment that could have cost Texas schoolchildren $830 million in badly needed funding for their education. This is a victory for our state's students and teachers."
Hutchison and Burgess, working with House Speaker John Boehner and senators from both parties, succeeded in inserting a provision repealing the so-called Doggett Amendment in the federal spending bill Congress enacted two weeks ago. Texas Democrats protested the action, but President Obama signed the spending deal into law to avoid a government shutdown.
Once the Doggett provision was repealed, Texas quickly qualified for the disputed funding.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.chron.com ...
Using our taxmoney against us
The Obama administration with their Democratic party hacks, making life difficult for Texans.
We’d rather they didn’t take our money (Department of Ed, my ass) but come hell or high water they sure as hell aren’t going to tell us to stuff it and keep our tax dollars.
Wow.. they played this silently all the way to the wire. A lot of teachers have been laid off in the meantime and 5 Austin schools are slated for closure.
Hopefully a lot of dead weight and fat won’t be hired back, and severely underperforming schools will still be closed, but I see one hell of a fight over the 830 million.
I don’t know which is worse, Lloyd Doggett or the people who voted for him.
Too bad Texas can't keep those dollars before they go to DC and have a bunch of federal bureaucrats get their salaries taken out for the admin costs.
I know a number of people whose wives, sisters, friends etc have been laid off from teaching jobs. None of them were hard education, they were liason something or other admin specialist etc etc.
Same here. Our neighbor teaches at LVISD and told us that several teachers plus on librarian was laid off at the middle school. My daughter was afraid she would lose her job in the Katy ISD, but so far she is safe.
I’m guessing the “Doggett Amendment” was designed to make sure the money got dumped down the union toilet..?
"Guidance counselors".
Sounds like a good house cleaning was in order.
I’m guessing the “Doggett Amendment” was designed to make sure the money got dumped down the union toilet..?
Monday ought to be pretty interesting here when the divvying begins, if it isn’t hard-allocated already. Who gets called back, if anybody?
Most of the laid-off haven’t drawn their first unemployment check, it’s been that recent.
The lord dog nuts amendment was added to endure that Texas continued to fund schools at the same level, even after the fed dollars ran out, or to put it bluntly - raise property and school taxes.
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