23 Sep 2003
Moses Says Focus Should Be School Finance Reform, Tax Code Modifications
DALLAS—Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Moses used his State of the District speech to the Greater Dallas Chamber on Tuesday to highlight student successes, address some of the district's challenges and to express concerns that the Texas Legislature may have become too focused on education reform and property tax relief, while not focusing enough on public school finance reform.
"The words I have heard in some quarters are associated with property tax relief only and not with fixing the school finance system," Moses said. "Given the fact that Texas schools have been recognized by organizations such as The Heritage Foundation, Education Trust, Education Watch , The Rand Corporation, and The National Goals Panel for improved student achievement, it is my earnest hope that the Legislature will not send Texas children and teachers a new round of accountability reforms."
Moses encouraged the chamber and others to weigh-in in a constructive manner to encourage the Legislature to do the right thing—maintain the current assessment and accountability systems, stabilize them, and keep current targets in place.
"When we continue to move the target, we discourage students and teachers," he said. "The truth is we need the school finance system to be reformed. We need a system that maintains a high level of equity and provides adequacy while building in new capacity for the system. We also need to maintain local control and ensure that weights are appropriate for the students who are coming to Texas—namely those who are limited-English speaking, and who qualify for special education. If we make this kind of financial effort, we can also eliminate or mitigate recapture or the unpopular Robin Hood method of funding our schools.
"We need the Legislature to act, and we need the Legislature to act quickly," he said.
The superintendent said that some of the solutions to the problem include maintaining equity gains where there are substantially equal revenues for similar students at similar tax rates. He also said that the Texas school finance system of the future must provide the resources necessary to meet the more rigorous standards recently adopted; should maintain a reasonable state-local partnership; must account for the fact that students have varying educational needs and that districts face varying costs; must be based on a revenue stream with the capacity to keep pace with inflation and enrollment growth; and should encourage efficiency at the local level through high standards, a strong accountability system, and freedom to be innovative.
The superintendent said the necessary budgetary cutbacks resulting from the current situation threaten school districts' abilities to produce the levels of student performance that is desired and expected by all. "Unless state legislators do something to change the situation next year's budget process will be a process of subtraction," he said. The superintendent said the district has worked hard over the last three years to cut costs and present a satisfactory budget. "But the 'wiggle room' is gone, and we will have to start taking away in certain areas," Moses said.
"We really hope the Legislature will do three things: provide for an equitable and adequate school finance system; reduce property taxes; and use this opportunity to restructure Texas taxes," Moses said.
The superintendent said he is hopeful that various legislative committees created to study school finance will put forward some realistic options when their work is completed. He said that he hopes the governor will then call a special session to address the issue, but also pointed out that any relief that might come would likely be after the district has completed its planning for the 2004-05 budget.