Camel's nose under the tent. While Texas has gone more conservative, many of the new "Republicans" are actually Rats who abandoned a sinking ship. They are using the term "state payroll tax" because they know that using what it really is, "state income tax", guarantees they'll be out of office by the time they get back to their home district. Reducing property taxes is strictly a temporary way to try and persuade people to allow a state income tax. As soon as they get the income tax in place, property taxes will rise right back up.
A state district judge in Austin now has ruled that the current school finance system is unconstitutional -- that it does not provide enough money to meet state educational requirements. He also said that, during the past decade, too many of Texas' 1,000-plus school districts gradually have been forced to raise taxes to the maximum $1.50 rate in an attempt to meet state requirements, effectively making that tax cap an unconstitutional state property tax.
Red herring. Amending the Texas Constitution is easy. This entire mess started when liberals put a general statement of intent into a Texas constitutional amendment. Conservatives let them pass what they thought was a feel good measure, but the liberals have been changing the Texas school funding system through lawsuits based on the amendment since Ann Richards was governor. It's time to change this amendment.
Ann Richards pushed the state lottery through, claiming that it would be earmarked for school funding. Of course, earmarking for state funding is ridiculous, because all they do is reduce funding from other sources.
The problem is that many people want someone else to pay for educating their children. They want other people to feed them (free school lunches), and look after them after school. They want them to pick them up from the house, drop them off, and go about their lives with the government looking after their children. As in California, much of the stress is being put on the school system by illegal aliens. Legal aliens pay taxes, and hence, pay school taxes. Illegal aliens do not pay taxes, and stress the system.
Great comments but I disagree somewhat in that actual "home owners" in Texas pay the vast majority of school (property) taxes - so to the extent that "legal" aliens choose to own homes your statement is true.
School property taxes are based on property value, thus apartment buildings that house a great number of school age children pay the same amount as a private home that may house only one to two children.
One simple fix would be to start taxing property based on the number of bedrooms - in that way families that rent apartments would have to start paying their fair share (legal and/or illegal) towards education