Curt W. Olson
COlson@TexasBudgetSource.com

The Senate Finance Committee approved the plan from the subcommittee on public education funding 13-2 Thursday afternoon.

The plan allocates an additional $6 billion toward public education, with $5.7 billion for direct school funding. It also allocates money for instructional material, college and career readiness, pre-kindergarten instruction, academic intervention, and teacher merit pay.

Subcommittee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, reported that the recommendations are contingent on adopting a new school-funding plan, which is Senate Bill 22.

The subcommittee approved a funding plan that would account for a loss in revenue from 3 percent to 8 percent statewide, depending on the district.

However, State Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, reported to the committee he is working on a new school-funding plan. He intends to introduce it to the subcommittee within a couple of weeks.

“We have a (school-funding) formula system that has no formula,” Seliger said.

He said it costs the state $4 billion a biennium and the current system of target revenue is “inherently inequitable.”

Target revenue was adopted by the legislature in 2006 as a response to amend the funding system. Few – if any – lawmakers like targeted revenue and it’s also disliked among school districts because it picks winners and losers for funding

Seliger said the school funding should account for every child no matter where they live in the state.

“Maybe this tough (budget) time provides us the opportunity and the vision to serve the public education system in the future,” Seliger said.

Seliger has allies on the committee to do this: State Sens. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, and State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville.

State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, voted to pass the recommendations.

“We have a fiscal matters subcommittee … we need to continue to address this issue. The Senate Bill is better (than the House Bill), but we ain’t where we need to be,” West said.

West also is interested in pulling another $4 million from the Rainy Day Fund for the 2012-13 budget. The House seems to be opposed to that.

“I won’t compromise the ability of the state of Texas to educate its children,” West said.

Another point some members on the panel underscored was that the Senate was voting on public education funding that spends more than it did in 2010-11.

While, Shapiro is proud of the work the subcommittee did to make the recommendation to the full committee, she also described it as a “work in progress.”

The two senators to opposed the public education funding subcommittee recommendations were Democrats Lucio and Judith Zaffirini or Laredo.