Texas Budget Source

Curt W. Olson
COlson@TexasBudgetSource.com

If State Sen. Royce West gets what he wants the regional Education Service Centers will see a large cut in funding.

When the Dallas Democrat found out Wednesday afternoon that the regional service centers were cut just $2 million in House Bill 1, he was surprised it was that low.

It intensified when he heard subcommittee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, say that these centers are running more than $42 million in profit – their revenues exceed expenditures.

“I’ve heard that discussion, but I haven’t seen an analysis,” said State Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock.

Duncan also said the service centers in certain parts of the state are vital to assisting school districts.

“Let those districts come together and come up with funding for it,” West responded.

During Wednesday’s Senate Finance subcommittee on public education funding the panel instructed the Legislative Budget Board it wants more information on the regional service centers.

The LBB representative at the subcommittee hearing said she may have the information available for the committee on Thursday.

The panel for Senate Finance public education funding decisions seeks more data on the existing profits, broken down by region. The panel also wants more thorough funding data on the regional service centers.

The LBB representative expressed hesitation on a quick turnaround for the data.

‘That’s one of the problems with the service centers, you have to dig and dig and dig to figure out what’s going on there,” Shapiro said.

“Are you talking about higher education?” West quipped in response.

Shapiro noted that the service centers are critical in certain parts of the state.

The panel sifted through a line item of discretionary spending at the Texas Education Agency. The programs consisted of college and career readiness, school dropouts, pre-kindergarten, and teacher merit pay.

Senate Bill 1 funds these programs for a total of $400 million and the panel wants to find more money.

As the panel discussed these programs, State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, made an observation – especially for Texas citizens who were watching the subcommittee proceedings via television or Internet.

“You people have an awful lot of programs that are spinoffs of others … is this why we have 1-to-1 ratios (of teachers to non-teachers)?” Patrick asked.

He said it seems as if the “bureaucracy of education has taken over,” Patrick added.

Patrick said when the budget crisis is behind the state and lawmakers have money to allocate for programs, state programs must be funded on evidence that produces results.

Shapiro agreed.

Earlier in the meeting, the subcommittee voted unanimously to restore a 10 percent cut in the 2012-13 budget – $6.6 million – to the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Texas School for the Deaf. This money will come from education service centers.

Patrick said if the money becomes available the Senate should allocate another $3 million to these two schools for the blind or deaf.