See You in Court

Kronberg Accounts for Impasse; TSTA Says New Bill not New; Gov. to Un-Veto

The new legislative analysis by Harvey
Kronberg being aired on News 8 Austin finally gets down to the bottom
line that motivates Texas dysfunction today. No, it’s not the
finer contours of personality among the top three patriarchs of Texas:
Perry, Dewhurst, & Craddick. This time, Kronberg argues that material power relations between school
districts and legislators must be differentiated–with a bloc of
legislators from rural districts deferring to their superintendents,
while another bloc would prefer to micromanage. This helps us to
understand the impasse in terms of different visions of state policy.

But also, Kronberg names "IT" as the problem–Income Tax. So long
as "IT" is off the table, there is no way to fund property tax
cuts. Yet property tax cuts have become the veritable (for
PinkDome readers that’s the fucking) bottom line. And this helps
us to understand the absolute contradiction between solutions that cost
more money and tax plans that produce less.

This kind of analysis we like. A scan of Kronberg’s news clips from
Sunday includes a Washington Times article about the latest ‘growing
gap’ in USA incomes, with 80 percent of working Americans getting thin
retreads on their old annual incomes while their bosses cruise in the
passing lanes on fat, new skid-proof treads.

Not only is an income tax needed, but a progressive income tax, one
that would return to the children of workers in the form of education
the excess profits being skimmed from the paychecks of their parents by
the bosses of Texas.

Such is the material basis of a civil rights outlook for education in Texas.

Unfortunately, according to the Texas State Teachers Association the so-called ‘new and improved’ Senate Bill for education is neither,
which leaves us with the same old problems and no new solutions.
Maybe that’s why the Governor is going to un-veto the old education
bill, just sign the damn thing into law, and be done with it.

Like many classic civil rights issues, this one appears headed back to
the courthouse for insight and guidance. We’ll hope for the best.

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