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TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--WEDNESDAY, JULY 1,
2009 * Special Session Starts, May Soon End Special Session Starts, May Soon End: The Texas House and Senate were back in action today for a special session called by Gov. Rick Perry. One bill promoting private, for-profit toll-road operations received a chilly reception in both House and Senate today and apparently lacked the votes to get out of committee. However, the Senate already has voted unanimously for the one must-pass bill of the special session, which extends the expiration date for five state agencies that otherwise would automatically cease existing next year under the state's system of "sunset review." The House is scheduled to vote on that bill tomorrow, along with another that provides new highway funding. The funding bill for highways would create a new Texas Transportation Revolving Fund that provoked lots of questions from wary House members in a committee hearing today. The lack of clear answers to some of those questions could prompt floor amendments. If any floor amendments are adopted, the House and Senate may have to form a conference committee to negotiate differences, which could lengthen the special session beyond this week. Texas AFT will be on guard against any attempt during this process to amend the highway-funding bill to tap into public pension funds for road projects. Gov. Perry Last in the Nation to Apply for Stimulus Funds: Today is the deadline for states to apply for federal aid to which each state is entitled under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the federal stimulus bill. Billions of dollars are at stake, and failure to obtain the federal money would blow up the state budget, which relies heavily on federal stimulus dollars to make ends meet. In no area of the budget is this more true than in public education. We hope to have details for you tomorrow on the Texas funding application. Reality Check on Charter Schools: Rep. Lon Burnam, Democrat of Fort Worth, has faced misplaced criticism on the op-ed pages of state newspapers for killing a charter-school expansion bill in the recent regular legislative session. The following letter from Texas AFT President Linda Bridges, seeking to set the record straight, was published by the Dallas Morning News on Sunday, June 28: "The recent editorial heaping praise on a failed charter-school bill and heaping blame on Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, for blocking it misses the mark on both counts. The bill's primary impact would have been to make it much easier for mediocre to poor charter schools, not just successful ones, to create new campuses. The bill's modest accountability provisions were essentially window dressing. State officials already have the authority to shut down bad charter schools. What's been lacking is the will or capacity to exercise that power effectively. "Texas does have some excellent charters, but they are rare exceptions. In most cases, the vision of charter schools as laboratories of innovation has not been fulfilled. Study after study has shown that traditional public schools typically outperform charter schools--particularly in states like Texas that set the bar low for initial charter approval and follow up with weak oversight and enforcement of quality standards. "President Barack Obama's secretary of education has warned charter operators that the charter movement is putting itself at risk by allowing too many second-rate and third-rate schools to exist. Their goal, he said, should be quality, not quantity. The charter bill that failed in the Texas House [in May] had its priorities backward, stressing quantity over quality, and Burnam was right to block it." |
