DALLAS — A Texas teachers group is asking Gov. Rick Perry to call a special legislative session that would restore state aid to school districts by taking $2.5 billion from the state’s rainy-day fund.
The Texas State Teachers Association is circulating petitions seeking the session. The group wants to bring state aid to local districts for fiscal 2013 to the level required under the current funding formula.
Lawmakers last year balanced the state’s biennial budget through fiscal 2013 by reducing school funding by a total of $5.4 billion over the two-year budget cycle. The state did not fund enrollment growth, which saved $4 billion, and cut another $1.4 billion in local grants by the Texas Education Agency.
The rainy-day fund, officially known as the Economic Stabilization Fund, is expected to contain $7.3 billion by January 2013, when the next regular session will begin. Rita Haecker, president of the Teachers Association, said the Legislature should tap the rainy-day fund to restore school funding before local districts develop their fiscal 2013 budgets.
“State government has the money to do that,” she said. “We can restore the education cuts and leave a substantial amount in the fund that could be used to meet other important needs. The money is in the bank. It’s time to put it to work.”
The current funding plan does not provide for any growth in enrollment, she said, even though the state adds 80,000 students each year.
Perry last year resisted appeals to draw on the rainy-day fund, which was then $9.4 billion, to fill a potential gap in the fiscal 2012-13 budget. He later agreed with the Legislature’s plan to take $3.1 billion to balance the fiscal 2011 budget.
Haecker called on the governor to change his mind “and do the right thing.”
“Gov. Perry insisted on protecting the rainy-day fund in 2011, but perhaps that was because of his political ambition,” she said, referring to Perry’s brief run for the Republican nomination for president.
“That is over now,” Haecker said. “It’s time for Gov. Perry to cut the politics.”
Spokeswoman Allison Castle said Perry sees no reason to call a special session on education or any other issue.
Lawmakers protected the rainy-day fund to cover a likely shortfall in Medicaid funding when the next session begins in January 2013, but Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, said that might not be necessary. “We may not need that money in the rainy-day fund,” she said. “Our economy is getting better.
She said the state collected $1.1 billion more in fiscal 2011 than expected, and Comptroller Susan Combs revised her revenue estimates for the next biennium by another $1.7 billion. “And that’s a conservative estimate,” Howard said.
Haecker said the reduced state support forced districts to cut 32,000 employees, including 12,000 teachers. If the funding is not restored before the beginning of the next school year, she said, the total job loss over the two years could total 50,000.
Four lawsuits seeking to overturn the current school funding formula have been filed. The challenges have been consolidated and Judge John Dietz will hear them in the 250th Judicial District Civil Court.
