Uh oh - Bushland is in trouble!

"Texas Property Tax Ruled Unconstitutional"

"AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Supreme Court declared Tuesday that the property tax system that supports the state's public schools is unconstitutional, and it gave the Legislature until June 1 to come up with a new way to pay for education.

Texas lawmakers have been struggling with the question of school finances for more than a decade, and the latest ruling adds urgency to the dispute.

Money for the $30 billion Texas school system comes primarily from local property taxes and franchise taxes. But both rich and poor school districts contend the system is unfair.

The high court found that overall school funding is adequate and that rich and poor districts have equal access to money. But the justices ruled 7-1 that the funding system amounts to a statewide property tax, which is unconstitutional in Texas."

http://tinyurl.com/cxhzm

They were arguing over this when I lived there 5 years ago! The state doesn't have an income tax, and has no other way to pay for education. It's going to be interesting to see ol' Rick Perry try to come up with some solution that doesn't make his base go bat/ape crazy. Texas Republicans are absolutely rabid about taxes. Might turn into a big political crisis. Something to keep an eye on, folks.

Boy, 'pukes are gonna struggle in Texas now! First Delay, now this!

get the kiddies into home schooling. The rich ones get to go to private school and the others can learn as much as they need to work at a McFranchise at mommy's knee. It wasn't all that long ago that kids might go to school up to 8th grade.

...the Bush agenda.

But it all wound up, when passed, in the general fund. After a little fancy accounting.

I lived in San Antonio when the richest district in the state was, in effect, sued by the poorest district (both in San Antonio) so that they could force equal distribution of property tax dollars. Not a pretty time to be in education.

Not surprised this continues to rear its ugly head - so many lies and bad-aids as they avoid rather than ever fix the problem.

They've been under court order to do something about school funding for three or so years now...I don't think they've done anything yet.

because as I remember Voinovich was still governor. This is in spite of having the same political party control both the state senate and house. Of course it is the republican party so there lies the problem. Between the ones who are crooks and the ones who are bozos they can't seem to get anything useful done. I really think the whole state is a complete mess!

...who needs kids? Who needs edumacatin?

We know we don't need no stinkin' taxes.

Look at the leader of the free world. He's stupid...and it hasn't stopped him.

Give eberyone a six shooter and let 'em fight it out. The last one standin' can turn out the lights.

Now that's what I call Intelligent Design!

districts. Only they were given the designations years ago and now the districts have changed in population( we grew)and the state won't change the per pupil limits. A town that once was rural is now urban but getting lower rural per pupil rates. It would take an act of god to get the state to change this, largely because the pot of $$ would just be redivided costing the urban or higher wealth districts to cut some of their share for those stuck with lower funding when they actually were rural. My community was once out in the boonies of the San Francisco area, it now is the 4th largest city in the area, outpacing many so called urban areas. But is stuck in the past.





"California’s school finance system: The basics
California’s current school finance system evolved through a combination of various court decisions, legislative actions, voter-approved initiatives, and government regulations. The result is a system in which school revenues are controlled at the state level. (To read a more thorough description of this history, go to the Laws and Policies section.)

Each year, the California Legislature and governor determine how much state and property tax funding will go to public education. The provisions of a 1988 voter-approved constitutional amendment, Proposition 98, set the minimum level of funding. State leaders are free to spend above this amount if they choose. They also can—and do—use their power over the state budget to influence educational change by creating categorical programs that prescribe how school districts spend some of the funds allocated to them. Both the state and federal governments earmark a large portion of school funding for specific purposes or to serve specific groups of students. These programs represent a sizable part of a school district’s budget and can have a major effect on local expenditure decisions.

School districts are responsible for managing the money they receive within both state and federal guidelines. In turn, the policies, employee union agreements, and practices of the local school district determine the amount of financial and operating discretion an individual school has.

For a quick overview of California school finance, see Q&A: The Basics of California's School Finance System.

For a more thorough explanation of California’s school finance system, order Understanding School Finance: California’s Complex K–12 System."

They are already BEYOND CRAZY here. There's got to be another way.

to finance schools. Texas should adopt a state graduated income tax, as should other states, such as Washington, that have cooked up patchwork tax systems to finance major societal requirements like education. No sin taxes...no excise taxes...no way to shift responsibility.

See what good things Gov George did for the Texas Education system:

http://austin.about.com/cs/georgewbush/l/aa012100b.htm

And the state gov't like the national gov't is totally in Republican control. Why is Republican gov't so incompetent?

Go Texas!

:rofl:

Hey, it's YOUR money...:rofl:

My buddy told me about a friend of his who was homeschooling. She was complaining about the high cost of all the materials. My buddy said, "Y'know, some people decided that it was cheaper to pool resources and buy all this stuff in bulk." "Oh yeah?" said the suddenly interested homeschooler, "Can you put me in touch with them?" "Sure," said my buddy, "It's called the fucking public school system." Zing!

We need an income tax. The sales tax is one of the highest too.