Texas budget official; time for school suits against Perry?

With the Texas Legislature officially passing a new state budget that, from the start of the current legislative cycle, officially said "eff you" to school districts in the state (among other entities), will we see lawsuits by Texas school districts?

After all, the Rick Perry-sponsored franchise tax revisions are what led us to this point in the first place. And, as bad as they are, to the degree they did help schools, they were in response to previous legal activity against the state.

The shortfall was a result of a business tax that has consistently failed to generate expected revenues and a slump in sales tax receipts. Many commentators said it wouldn't bring in the revenue Perry claimed it would when he drafted its parameters in 2006. And, per the linked story, both Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said they *refused* to consider addressing this issue - five years later.

For public schools, the budget is at least $4 billion short of what districts would be owed for basic operations under current funding formulas. To accommodate the lower spending, the Legislature also is working on a companion measure that would change the formulas so the reduced funding levels are legal.

Note that? Unless the Lege makes the current cuts slashes legal, they ARE ILLEGAL! Can anybody say "ex post facto budgeting"?

Please, Rick, run for president. Even though I would still vote Green, I'd love to see the grudge match between you and Obama (if you made it past the primaries), with the "Texas miracle" getting torn to shreds by public scrutiny.

More about the myth behind that "miracle" here at Salon.

Wouldn't you love to have the Silver Fox, Barbara Bush, quoted against Perry?

Our schools are in crises: We rank 36th in the nation in high school graduation rates. An estimated 3.8 million Texans do not have a high school diploma. We rank 49th in verbal SAT scores, 47th in literacy and 46th in average math SAT scores. We rank 33rd in the nation on teacher salaries.

Not crisIS, either, for old Barb, but crisES.

And, that op-ed column by her was in early February, before school districts found out they were going to get this stiffed by the state.