I’m a mom and an optimist. Both of my children attended public schools in our neighborhood and graduated from Lake Highlands High School. So I had trouble understanding why our Texas Legislature has not been able to pass a school funding bill that would adequately fund our public schools – you know, enough money to attract and keep qualified teachers (like the federal No Child Left Behind law requires), to educate all of our children, rich and poor alike, and to allow our local school board to make choices that make sense for our community.
Then I really had trouble understanding why our legislators could not manage this task when forced to by the Texas Supreme Court. But finally they did, after several (I lost count) special sessions. And then I realized (I often have a difficult time seeing issues from the same perspective as our legislators) that the issue in Austin wasn’t really school funding; it was lower property taxes. So now we have HB1, a new property tax bill, in the guise of a school funding bill. If you don’t believe me, try reading the first 18 pages without your tax accountant at your side.
To find out what HB1 means to our schools and our children, I spoke with Tony Harkleroad, Richardson ISD’s assistant superin