Class Sizes, Teacher Furloughs Fair Game For Special

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/class-sizes-teacher-furloughs-fair-game-special/

The biggest victory for teachers' associations was the defeat of legislation allowing school districts to furlough teachers, reduce salaries and increase class sizes. Now, with a special session underway, all of that is back on the table — and state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, has already filed a so-called "mandate relief" bill.

In the event that districts receive less funding per student than the previous year, SB 8, a version of a bill Shapiro filed during the regular session, allows schools to furlough teachers and modifies minimum salary and notification of termination requirements. It does not lift the 22:1 student teacher ratio in kindergarten through fourth grade, as legislation introduced during the regular session by state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston and state Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, attempted to do.

Yesterday, Eissler, who chairs the House Public Education Committee, would not say whether he intended to reintroduce HB 400, his mandate relief bill — only that he continued to believe such legislation was needed.

The fate of Shapiro's measure and others like it that may be filed depends on whether they are deemed germane as amendments of SB 1, the new version of the fiscal matters bill that state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth successfully filibustered Sunday night (that's up to the parliamentarian), or if Gov. Rick Perry decides to add mandate relief specifically as a topic of the special session. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Senate Finance Chair Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, have both said that they hope he does.

Of course, about 14,000 paid attention in March, not that it actually made any difference.....

The Legislature is so stupid that no amount of education could compensate for it.