Rio Grande Valley lawmakers — shocked by the sheer scope of education cuts proposed by Texas Republicans on Tuesday — predicted Valley students would suffer far worse than those in other parts of the state.
Rep. Armando "Mando" Martinez, D-Weslaco, lambasted his opponents’ first budget draft, which eliminated $5 billion in funds for teacher incentive pay, pre-kindergarten programs, science and arts education and more.
He criticized Republicans’ refusal to break campaign promises to not raise taxes or touch a $9 billion "rainy day" fund to help fill the state’s multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.
"Republicans need to change gears and focus on using the rainy day fund," he said. "Guess what? It’s a rainy day now, and as a matter of fact, there is a hurricane in the state of Texas."
Like him, and without reservation, the Valley’s Democratic delegation condemned the Legislative Budget Board’s nearly 1,000-page proposal, which spread cuts totaling $14 billion across state services.
But as dark clouds swept the Valley sky Thursday, Martinez forecast a future just as gloomy for South Texas children if schools could not afford services for English-limited and poor students.
>> High school initiatives to graduate English-limited students
>> Assistance to teachers seeking bilingual or English as a Second Language certification
>> Intensive instruction for trailing English-limited students
"That describes the entire Valley student population," he said. "Any cut to education will be more detrimental to the future of the Valley, and you can’t argue that."
"Shock and awe" were the preferred terms of freshman Rep. Sergio Muñoz Jr.,
D-Palmview, who said no one expected schools to escape budget reductions — public schools exhaust more than 40 percent of state funds.
But he and his South Texas colleagues balked at some of the complete cuts, including:
>> Dropout prevention and recovery programs
"That’s taking away the dream of all of our students, yet it will all devastate South Texas more," Muñoz said. "We’re told this is a work in progress. But if any, or most, of this proposal passes, there will be no progress in our area.
"Our students will take a step five, 10, 20 years back," he warned.
GROWTH AND EQUITY
However, Muñoz worries most that $9 billion is missing to keep up with expected student growth.
"This budget doesn’t even provide services to the people we already have," he said. "That’s not even considering the new ones we know will come in."
Experts predict Texas will see 160,000 more students by 2013, but where schools will find the money to handle that surge is anybody’s guess.
Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, told representatives Wednesday that he assumed some lawmakers would change that deficiency as the proposal progressed.
"You know what they say about people who assume," said Rep. Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen. "Unless there’s a change in heart of this leadership … I don’t see how we can really make that large of a change."
Unlike Gonzales, lobbyist Martin Peña said the growth problem will be addressed sooner or later.
The executive director for the South Texas Association of Schools, Peña even expected the Legislature to tackle another big issue: fair funding.
According to the Equity Center, which represents low- and middle-income school districts, the poorest districts in Texas average a property tax rate of $1.14 and get $5,530 per student from the state.
In contrast, wealthier districts rake in $8,316 per student, with an average tax rate of $1.01.
"How can you justify across-the-board cuts taking the same amount away from a rich district as you would a poor district?" Peña said. "If they don’t fix that, people are itching to go to court, and the state will lose."
The state only defines two Valley districts as wealthy — San Isidro and Port Isabel — so Peña said the inevitable change in school funding would benefit the rest of South Texas.
(SLIM) SILVER LININGS
Two small portions in the Republicans’ proposal could also help lessen the pain for Valley schools.
One allows current funding levels for summer school classes for English-limited students, which Valley superintendents regularly say is critical to their success.
"It’s worth noting, sure," Gonzales said. "But the majority of students may get left behind in the regular (school) year. We don’t want to push everybody into the summer program because it’s the only one not cut."
She also stressed teachers will be pushed to their limit, especially because the state is considering pushing more children into classes formerly limited to 22 elementary students per teacher.
But perhaps to counteract that — and the elimination of teacher pay incentive — the Republican proposal recommends that the state reward indebted teachers who serve high-poverty areas, like the Valley.
That could retain many good educators in an area with high teacher turnover rates, the legislators said.
Still, Peña said there would be no way districts can avoid firing employees when they consume, on average, 80 percent of school budgets.
"These are middle-class people with nowhere to go, because the district next door is laying people off, too," he said. "They will only add to the (Valley’s) already way-above-average unemployment.
"The next couple of years won’t be pretty for South Texas."
Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4472.
Rep. Armando "Mando" Martinez, D-Weslaco, lambasted his opponents’ first budget draft, which eliminated $5 billion in funds for teacher incentive pay, pre-kindergarten programs, science and arts education and more.
He criticized Republicans’ refusal to break campaign promises to not raise taxes or touch a $9 billion "rainy day" fund to help fill the state’s multibillion-dollar budget shortfall.
"Republicans need to change gears and focus on using the rainy day fund," he said. "Guess what? It’s a rainy day now, and as a matter of fact, there is a hurricane in the state of Texas."
Like him, and without reservation, the Valley’s Democratic delegation condemned the Legislative Budget Board’s nearly 1,000-page proposal, which spread cuts totaling $14 billion across state services.
But as dark clouds swept the Valley sky Thursday, Martinez forecast a future just as gloomy for South Texas children if schools could not afford services for English-limited and poor students.
>> High school initiatives to graduate English-limited students
>> Assistance to teachers seeking bilingual or English as a Second Language certification
>> Intensive instruction for trailing English-limited students
"That describes the entire Valley student population," he said. "Any cut to education will be more detrimental to the future of the Valley, and you can’t argue that."
"Shock and awe" were the preferred terms of freshman Rep. Sergio Muñoz Jr.,
D-Palmview, who said no one expected schools to escape budget reductions — public schools exhaust more than 40 percent of state funds.
But he and his South Texas colleagues balked at some of the complete cuts, including:
>> Dropout prevention and recovery programs
"That’s taking away the dream of all of our students, yet it will all devastate South Texas more," Muñoz said. "We’re told this is a work in progress. But if any, or most, of this proposal passes, there will be no progress in our area.
"Our students will take a step five, 10, 20 years back," he warned.
GROWTH AND EQUITY
However, Muñoz worries most that $9 billion is missing to keep up with expected student growth.
"This budget doesn’t even provide services to the people we already have," he said. "That’s not even considering the new ones we know will come in."
Experts predict Texas will see 160,000 more students by 2013, but where schools will find the money to handle that surge is anybody’s guess.
Rep. Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, told representatives Wednesday that he assumed some lawmakers would change that deficiency as the proposal progressed.
"You know what they say about people who assume," said Rep. Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen. "Unless there’s a change in heart of this leadership … I don’t see how we can really make that large of a change."
Unlike Gonzales, lobbyist Martin Peña said the growth problem will be addressed sooner or later.
The executive director for the South Texas Association of Schools, Peña even expected the Legislature to tackle another big issue: fair funding.
According to the Equity Center, which represents low- and middle-income school districts, the poorest districts in Texas average a property tax rate of $1.14 and get $5,530 per student from the state.
In contrast, wealthier districts rake in $8,316 per student, with an average tax rate of $1.01.
"How can you justify across-the-board cuts taking the same amount away from a rich district as you would a poor district?" Peña said. "If they don’t fix that, people are itching to go to court, and the state will lose."
The state only defines two Valley districts as wealthy — San Isidro and Port Isabel — so Peña said the inevitable change in school funding would benefit the rest of South Texas.
(SLIM) SILVER LININGS
Two small portions in the Republicans’ proposal could also help lessen the pain for Valley schools.
One allows current funding levels for summer school classes for English-limited students, which Valley superintendents regularly say is critical to their success.
"It’s worth noting, sure," Gonzales said. "But the majority of students may get left behind in the regular (school) year. We don’t want to push everybody into the summer program because it’s the only one not cut."
She also stressed teachers will be pushed to their limit, especially because the state is considering pushing more children into classes formerly limited to 22 elementary students per teacher.
But perhaps to counteract that — and the elimination of teacher pay incentive — the Republican proposal recommends that the state reward indebted teachers who serve high-poverty areas, like the Valley.
That could retain many good educators in an area with high teacher turnover rates, the legislators said.
Still, Peña said there would be no way districts can avoid firing employees when they consume, on average, 80 percent of school budgets.
"These are middle-class people with nowhere to go, because the district next door is laying people off, too," he said. "They will only add to the (Valley’s) already way-above-average unemployment.
"The next couple of years won’t be pretty for South Texas."
Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4472.
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