LEIGHTON SCHUBERT MEETS WITH AREA SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS

  

State Representative Leighton Schubert (R-Caldwell) spent the first day of the special session of the 85th Texas Legislature reaching out to school superintendents and county judges from around House District 13, which he represents in the Texas House of Representatives.

Schubert invited all superintendents from his district to the Texas Capitol to discuss proposed legislation dealing with public school education, among them school finance, "private school choice," and increased teacher pay.

During the regular session, Schubert filed a bill and later worked to amend House Bill 21 to include language removing a punitive funding adjustment, originally enacted decades ago, requiring school districts with less than 300 square miles to receive less state funding. House Bill 21, which would have given public schools an additional $1.5 billion and simplified funding formulas, died when the Senate amended the bill to include "private school choice."

Schubert also filed a bill during the regular session which would have extended the "hold-harmless" provision known as "Additional State Aid for Tax Reduction" (ASATR) for another two years.

"School finance was particularly important to me and it was left as unfinished business during the regular session, which is why I'm looking forward to addressing it during the special session," said Schubert. "I strive to stay in close contact with our superintendents, but it's always good for me to get everyone in the same room and listen to their ideas and concerns on a regular basis."

Schubert intends to re-file those two bills during the special session.

"Several of my school districts face huge loss of funding with the expiration of ASATR and the 300 square mile penalty, so I'm working hard to do something about it."

Schubert also spent the day calling all seven county judges in his district to discuss other items on the special session agenda, including an overhaul of the property appraisal and tax rate process and a bill requiring local governments to get voter approval if their proposed tax rate was expected to increase their overall revenues by 5 percent or more.

"In general, our local officials in rural Texas do a great job of doing a lot with very little and throughout this past year I have worked hand in hand with our local officials across House District 13 to find a solution that works for rural Texas," said Schubert. "My commitment is to continue to find ways to ease the financial burden of Texans, not add to it. The best way to do that is to have cooperation between our state and local officials."

"It is important for me, when considering legislation, to hear directly from those people that will be directly impacted by it," said Schubert. "Our superintendents and county judges are literally where the rubber meets the road on a lot of these issues and I greatly value their input and support."

Representative Schubert represents District 13 in the Texas House of Representatives, which includes Austin, Burleson, Colorado, Fayette, Grimes, Lavaca, and Washington Counties. He serves on the Committee on Energy Resources, Committee on Special Purpose Districts, and the Committee on House Administration.  Story and photo courtesy of Leighton Schubert's office.