Schools considering lawsuit in face of cuts ....

An item in the Houston Chronicle:

Texas school districts are ready to sue the state again over funding but likely will wait to see what the state Legislature does this spring.

"School districts are so disgusted and fed up with this funding situation because it's the same thing year after year after year. We're ready to go," said John Folks, past president of the Texas Association of School Administrators. Folks is the superintendent of San Antonio's largest school district - Northside ISD - and former superintendent of Houston's Spring ISD.

School districts complain of funding disparities that create large differences - more than $20,000 per classroom - with neighboring school districts. They contend education funding is not keeping up with overhead costs and is insufficient to meet more rigorous academic standards.

At least 60 percent of school districts now are using reserve funds to help pay operating expenses, according to the Texas Association of School Boards.

Adding to educators' anxiety is the upcoming legislative session in which public school funding cuts are expected to be on the table
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Want to be an Education Lobbyist?

The Texas Association of Business is looking for one.

Here are details from their recently completed meetign on higher education in the state: “Reforming Higher Education: A Prerequisite for Prosperity.” I've yet to pour through it, but I'm interested in what "reform" in fact means.

Summary of Education Bills Introduced in the Last Legislative Session

Here's a comprehensive summary compiled by the TSTA of what did and did not happen in the 2009 Texas Legislative Session. Here's a link to the page they have set up for the upcoming session. In yesterday's meeting, some of us were interested in developing a legislative agenda (I'll put up a link to it on the right hand column). We should follow this year's activities to determine what to develop for 2013.

Is there any interest in setting up a meeting with an education lobbyist or some other pro to go over the nitty gritty?