Naked City

Gov. Rick Perry wasted no time enacting this week what the Legislature could not pass this session, including some of the more controversial education reform proposals of the recent sessions. Perry said he would use his executive authority to direct his appointee, Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley, to overhaul the state's financial accountability system for school districts. That includes the controversial rule that would require putting 65 cents of every public education dollar in the classrooms, plus measures to require districts to report money they spend on lobbying the Legislature or filing lawsuits against the state. "I'm taking this action today because improving classroom performance is simply too important to wait for lawmakers to overcome their differences, and while I will continue toward a legislative consensus on school finance, I cannot delay taking action that will benefit schoolchildren, parents, and taxpayers," Perry said.

The action was unprecedented, decisive, and designed to shore up Perry's conservative base that has yet to claim a big victory out of the current school finance debate. Americans for Prosperity called it "the most significant education reform in decades." Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn called it a "political charade." And education lobbyists say the fact that Perry could have done it all along – just as he could have used executive authority to pass, again, the school finance budget he vetoed – prompts the question of why Perry called lawmakers back to Austin at all.

The "65% rule" is actually a national campaign launched by Overstock.com owner Patrick Byrne, a fact that galls most education groups. They say it's an arbitrary figure based on whim rather than research. Texas Federation of Teachers President Linda Bridges says such decisions force districts to cut funding in areas such as maintenance, security, and health services, and even the self-funded school lunch program. "What the governor fails to understand is the programs he's proposing to shortchange – food, health, and transportation, to name a few – are directly related to classroom instruction. Any teacher will tell you that you can't work with a student who is hungry or sick or not even able to make it to school for lack of transportation. Safe and well-maintained facilities are important as well," Bridges said. "So do we cut school nurses? Do we cut security? Do we cut back on food?"

Richard Kouri of the Texas State Teachers Association called Perry's actions "misdirection," intended to take the spotlight off the Legislature's unwillingness to spend more money on education by drawing attention to what Perry believes to be excesses of the extravagant, spendthrift school districts. "This is an attempt to distract attention away from the fact that the state is only putting in 37% of the cost to run public schools," Kouri said. "Rather than talking about how school districts are spending 65% of their money, we need to be talking about why the state isn't paying for 65% of the funding of school districts."