Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Texas House Speaker Joe Straus announced appointments to the Select Committee on Public School Finance Weights, Allotments and Adjustments. The state’s goal of post-secondary readiness and a continued focus on accountability and closing the achievement gap between socioeconomic groups are important to the future of Texas students and the state’s economic health. The committee will review the 20-year-old funding formulas to ensure alignment moving forward.
Lt. Governor Dewhurst’s legislative appointees are: committee co-chair Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock), Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston), and Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas). Dr. Curtis Culwell (Garland), superintendent of schools, Garland Independent School District, will serve as the public school community member. Dr. Harrison Keller, Vice Provost for Higher Education Policy and Research, at the University of Texas at Austin, will serve as a representative from the business community. Keller served as policy director for former Speaker Tom Craddick during the special session in 2006 when the “target revenue” system currently in place was approved.
The legislative appointees from the Texas House of Representatives are Representatives Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen), Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands), Scott Hochberg (D-Houston) and Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio). Representative Rob Eissler will serve as co-chair of the Select Committee. Dr. Richard Middleton (San Antonio), superintendent of schools, North East Independent School District and adjunct professor of public school finance at Trinity University, will serve as the public school community member. Larry Kellner (Houston), President of Emerald Creek, a private investment firm and former CEO, Continental Airlines, will serve as the member from the business community. Kellner was a member of the Select Committee on Public School Accountability that addressed that topic during the interim between the 80th and 81st Texas Legislatures.
Other members on the committee were appointed by Governor Rick Perry in October of 2009 and include: Switzer Deason of College Station and Mary Ann Whiteker of Lufkin. Deason is president of Crux Financial Services Inc. and is a board member of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone #10 (Traditions) for the City of Bryan and NexBank of Dallas. Whiteker is superintendent of the Hudson Independent School District and a member of the Texas Association of School Administrators, Texas Association of School Boards, Texas Association of Community Schools Executive Board, and Texas Association of Suburban and Urban Schools
During the 2009 legislative session, the Select Committee on Public School Finance Weights, Allotments and Adjustments was established to conduct a comprehensive review of funding formulas under the public school finance system. The committee will conduct a series of public hearings throughout the state and solicit information from parents of public school children and other community members. At least one public hearing will also be held at a public school to include students in the discussion. The Select Committee will release a report to the Legislature by December 1, 2010.
Most Capitol observers expect the Select Committee to begin work in late March or early April, after the party primary elections.
