This blogging thing is really a hassle. I admire people who do it on a regular daily (or more) schedule. For one thing, I don't have that kind of motivation, nor time. For another thing, I don't have that much interesting stuff to say. So here's a hot topic close to my heart right now:
--Texas Public School Funding--
Back in the mid aught's, I think it was actually during 2005 but I could be wrong, some public K12 schools sued the state legislature because they claimed the "Robin Hood" system of funding schools was illegal. The schools won and the Legislature had to change the funding system.
The new system of funding gave most schools less money, so the state said they would "hold harmless" the funding rate and fill the gap so that no school would have less money than they were budgeted for the 2005-06 school year. At the same time, the state changed their income structure to one that would produce a guaranteed deficit within five years (according to the state comptroller at the time).
Now the five years is up and the state is in the deficit that was predicted. The deficit would actually have been noticed sooner were it not for the Economic Stimulus money that the federal government provided over the last two years and Governor Perry claimed that Texas would not use. Texas used it, alloted it to the schools to buy two more years of breaking even, and now is in a worse deficit than would have been seen two years ago.
Many schools can manage to get along with a smaller amount of money. That has been proven in their having budgets that stayed level for the last five years while inflation has increased costs of fuel, utilities, food, salaries, etc. Schools have been doing more with less for the last five years, and now are being asked to cut over 60% in some school districts. Surely the legislative branch of the state government wouldn't want to retaliate against the schools for losing a law suit 5 years ago, would they? Well, would they?
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