Teachers
Sort-Changed By Superintendents
In
January 1, 2005, the Texas Federation of Teachers started touting its “100%
solution” – a plan to increase state spending on public education by almost $8
billion. The rationale for pushing for more funds? TFT cites Judge John Dietz’s
ruling that the Texas scheme for funding public education is
unconstitutional.
Further,
TFT’s president chastises the 78th Legislature for “gutting” public
education. John Cole claims that “to
balance the state's budget without increasing taxes the 2003 legislature took a
meat ax to education. The TFT Legislative Department estimates that legislators
whacked more than $3.7 billion from programs designed to help kids learn or help
keep good teachers.”
Not
true.
Most
recently, TFT attacked Governor Perry’s “State of the State” address because he
wasn’t an unbridled enthusiast for the current condition of public education in
Texas. Cole opined that the governor “portrayed Texas schools as mediocre at
best, staffed by unmotivated teachers, and governed by secretive cabals that
guzzle tax dollars without producing results.”
Of
course, Governor Perry didn’t chastise the entire system for mediocrity. Those
are characterizations made by TFT unsupported by fact or reason.
In the
2004-2005 state budget passed in 2003, legislators dedicated 58.4% of all
general revenue dollars to Texas public and higher education. In fact,
appropriations for public education increased $1.19 billion over the previous
biennium. Currently, Texas ranks 3rd in the nation for the percentage of total
state expenditures devoted to public education.
Teachers employed by public schools
have earned an average salary increase of nearly $9,300 since 1999, according
to the Governor’s Office. Additionally, Governor Perry helped create the Master
Teacher Program in the fields of reading, math and science that allows
qualified teachers to earn a $5,000 annual bonus.
To quote directly from the Governor’s January, 2005
“State of the State” address: “When our work is
done, parents won't measure our success by how much money we spend, but whether
more children learn. I support additional dollars for our schools, but even
more importantly, I support dedicating new money to rewarding and supporting
our best teachers and providing incentives for progress at schools with large
numbers of economically disadvantaged students.”
Based
on the Governor’s and the Legislature’s clearly demonstrated commitment to the
teaching profession, why would TFT continually make outlandish accusations
against them? The answer clearly lies
in interest group politics.
The political alignment of educational interest
groups, notably teachers unions and superintendents, is to the Left. Their
chief interest is pushing state spending upward – even to the detriment of
taxpayers – and to shift the burden of taxation from local to state-managed schemes that avoid the messy
consequences of local accountability for increased spending.
Teachers would do well to sever
their ties to superintendents. The shortcoming
in state spending is not the amount of money the Legislature devotes to public
education, but how precious few of those funds go directly to the critical
functions of teaching and learning in the classroom. As a consequence, teachers get the short end of the stick.
The clearest illustration of this point is the ratio of
teachers to non-teaching personnel in our public schools. According to Texas
Education Agency numbers, the ratio of teachers to non-teachers has declined.
Two decades ago the ratio was 3 teachers to 1 non-teacher. Today, the ratio is
essentially 1-to-1. Even with an enrollment growth of nearly 80,000 students
per year, the number of non-teachers grew faster than the number of teachers.
Amazingly, the Comptroller and the Texas Education Agency
maintain that only 52 cents of every dollar spent on public education goes to
the classroom. The actual number is likely much lower.
The enormous growth of non-teaching personnel prevents
teachers from reaping the benefits of increased funding for public
education. In other words, bureaucracy
increasingly and detrimentally consumes funds that should be devoted to the
teaching profession. If classroom
instruction is the critical component of education, then TFT should be
working to ensure that teaching and learning is the top priority of the
Legislature rather than falsely castigating those who have decisively increased
funding for Texas’ schools.
Patterson is the director of research at the
Texas Public Policy Foundation. Colyandro is the executive director of the
Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Texas Public Policy Foundation
411 Brazos St., Ste. 99
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 472-2700