Mike Falick's Blog

More Coverage on "God or the Girl": Reviews by Fox News and Catholic Online

A&E's upcoming 5 hour series "God or the Girl," created by my brother, Darryl Silver, and David Eilenberg, continues to get a lot of press.  In the last couple of days, the show has been the subject of stories by Fox News and Catholic Online.  The show is described by Catholic Online:

Apart from the slightly sensational title -- actually a misnomer as none of these devout men would ever consider abandoning God -- the series created by Darryl Silver, Stephen David and David Eilenberg and executive-produced by Silver and Mark Wolper offers a surprisingly reverential treatment of a profound life passage.

The show premiers on Easter, April 16, 8-10 p.m. CDT. The third and fourth hours are the next night, Monday, April 17, 9-10 p.m. CDT, with the finale Sunday, April 23, 9-10 p.m. CDT.  A&E is available in Houston on Time Warner cable channel 23, DirecTV channel 265 and DISH channel 118.

The Fox News and Catholic Online articles are below.  Prior posts on "God or the Girl" here and here.

Spring Branch's Board Begins Review of Budget: Another Tough Year Ahead

Tonight the Board had its first meeting to begin our review of the FY2007 budget and the picture is anything but pretty.  During these initial meetings, each Board member has a designated community member who participates in the discussion.

While property values have continued to increase, because Spring Branch is a Chapter 41 district, the increase in valuation simply translates into an escalation of our Robin Hood payment which is estimated to be $26.6m next year ($6.9m more than it was this year).  That money represents 19.97¢ of the tax rate.  If you own a $200,000 home, that equates to $400/year or 12.7% of your taxes for school district operations operations going out of Spring Branch.  It angers me that we must continue to make cuts when 12.4¢ of every dollar paid in local property taxes for operating the District goes to other districts.  The Robin Hood payment represents the 2nd largest category of our budget - and the amount increases dramatically year after year.

Due largely to the escalation of this payment, the budget currently projects a deficit of $4.7m, even after making cuts in central administration of $1.5m.  In addition to Robin Hood, the deficit results
from escalating fuel and utilities and health insurance as well as a cost of living increase in teacher salaries.

This is the work we have ahead and this is why it is critical for the Legislature to either eliminate the Robin Hood recapture system or raise the limit so Spring Branch is not a participant.  Elimination or increase in the limit is one of the Legislative Priorities the Board has adopted for the upcoming Special Session.  It is anticipated that the Legislature will take some action on this issue now that Dallas ISD has achieved Robin Hood status.

Unfunded Mandates Cost Spring Branch Taxpayers $9.2 Million a Year

I previously posted about unfunded mandates and the 65% Rule.  However, even without the 65% Rule, unfunded mandates already cost Spring Branch $9.2 million each year.  That represents 7¢ of the tax rate.  Here's a breakdown:

For 2006-2007, Spring Branch will receive just over $16 million from the State.  The State mandates that Spring Branch spend $25.2 million in the following categories:

• Special Education: $10.7 million
• Career and Technology Education: $3.3 million
• Gifted and Talented Education: $434,372
• Compensatory Education: $8.7 million
• Bilingual Education: $2.1 million

Each of these areas is important and should be fully funded by the State.  That is why one of the Board's Legislative Priorities is

Unfunded Mandates: Fully fund the actual cost of any required programs and services.

It is important to note that the unfunded mandates discussed above don't even include the $26 million Robin Hood payment anticipated next school year.

Another Great Resource: Discovery.com Has a Ton of Educational Tools for Students and Teachers

Today I found another great resource, Discovery.com's Education portal.  This site has a ton of curriculum plus it has a homework help page called Cosmeo.com that offers students help in science, math, social studies, language arts, and music and art.  Loaded with videos, I think you will like this site.

Spring Branch Board Adopts Its Legislative Priorities for the Upcoming Special Session

The Texas Legislature is scheduled to convene in Special Session beginning April 17.  In preparation for the Session, the Board adopted the following as its legislative priorities for the Special Session:

LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR THE THIRD CALLED SESSION OF THE 79TH LEGISLATURE

FINANCE

• Chapter 41: Support the elimination of Chapter 41 recapture. As an alternative, support temporary increase of equalized wealth level from $305,000 to $400,000 pending final resolution of school finance legislation.
• Property Taxes: Reduce reliance on local property taxes by restructuring taxes needed to general adequate financial resources for public schools.
• Hold harmless for $2.00 districts: Ensure that $2.00 districts are held harmless if property tax cap is lowered.
• Unfunded Mandates: Fully fund the actual cost of any required programs and services.
• Cost of Education Index: Support development and use of a biennially updated index that captures all district costs.
• School Finance: Equity. Support a school finance system that provides access for all students and is equalized or “wealth neutral.” Adequacy. Support adequacy in funding so that all school districts have financial resources that will provide an excellent education to all students.
• Federal Hurricane Relief Funding: Support the direct payment to districts of Federal aid dedicated to evacuees.

TEACHERS

• Teacher Pay Raise: Support increase in teacher salaries to the national average.
• Teacher Incentive Pay: Support locally developed teacher incentive pay plan.

GOVERNANCE

• Local Control: Support preserving local control of public education by duly elected school boards who oversee the management of their school districts.
• 65% Rule: Support modification of definition of “classroom instruction” to include all student support services.
• State Share: Support increasing the state share of the Foundation School Program to 60 percent while maintaining local control over the allocation of resources.
• School Calendar: Support local control over school calendar.
• Mandated Election Dates: Support local control to choose either May or November for trustee elections

Vouchers: Oppose private-school vouchers and tuition tax credits funded with public tax dollars.

The High Price Paid for Dropping Out

Today's Morning Edition on NPR had a very good story about the efforts being made in Portland, Oregon to get drop outs to go to college.  The program, called Gateway to College, is conducted by Portland Community College and is designed to make former drop outs successful college students and graduates.

I have previously posted about the economic impact of educational attainment.  The chart to the left shows clearly the impact on an individual's anticipated income based on the highest level of education completed.  The impact is extreme, and the disparity grows each year.
 

Can A School District Ask About a Student's Immigration Status?

With the United States Senate taking up the bill (HR4437) passed by the House on immigration reform this week, I thought now would be a good time to answer this question which I have been asked a number of times

Can a school district ask a student's immigration status?"

The short answer is "no."

I have always thought this answer is at odds with our country's values and belief in the rule of law.  But in 1982 in Plyler v. Doe, the United States Supreme Court ruled that undocumented children have the same right to public education as U.S. citizens and permanent residents.  The Court based its 5-4 decision on an interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause that seems to be a stretch -- that individuals in this country illegally are entitled to the same equal protection rights as those here legally. 

The Court held that public schools are prohibited from:

• denying enrollment to undocumented students
• engaging in practices that might “chill” undocumented students and their families from accessing educational services
• requiring disclosure of the immigration status of a parent or child
• making inquiries of children or parents that might reveal their immigration status
• requiring social security numbers (or documents that can only be obtained by those with social security numbers) as a prerequisite to school enrollment.

Schools are also prohibited from reporting  a student’s immigration status to the INS or any other agency because  the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act makes all student records, including information about a student’s immigration status, are confidential and cannot be disclosed to anyone without consent of the student's parent or guardian. 

The text of the Plyler decision is below.

**Update 3/27 @ 10:45pm: The AP is reporting the following:

the Senate Judiciary Committee approved sweeping election-year legislation Monday that clears the way for 11 million illegal aliens to seek U.S. citizenship, a victory for demonstrators who had spilled into the streets by the hundreds of thousands demanding better treatment for immigrants. 

More information is available here.

Would the Proposed Tax on Partnerships be Constitutional?

It is the widely held belief that the Sharp Commission will soon issue its recommendations for reforming the Texas tax system to replace the unconstitutional current system.  One of the likely recommendations is a broad based tax on all businesses except sole proprietorships.  Joe Smith at www.texasisd.com today talks about this and asks whether this proposed tax would be constitutional.  I believe that the short answer is that it would not pass constitutional muster.

Article 8, Section 24 (the “Bullock Amendment”) of the Texas Constitution provides:

(a)  A general law enacted by the legislature that imposes a tax on the net incomes of natural persons, including a person's share of partnership and unincorporated association income, must provide that the portion of the law imposing the tax not take effect until approved by a majority of the registered voters voting in a statewide referendum held on the question of imposing the tax. The referendum must specify the rate of the tax that will apply to taxable income as defined by law.

I believe that this would make any tax on partnership income unconstitutional.

The Center for Public Policy Priorities put together a thorough explanation (.pdf) of this issue during the special session last summer.  In it, the CPPP says the tax would be unconstitutional for an additional reason -- Section 24 only applies to "natural persons"

[The proposed bill] asks the voters to approve a tax “on all business entities,” which
includes other than natural persons, for example, corporations. This makes [the proposed bill] overbroad because, under State v. Swisher and the Bullock Amendment, submitting any tax for voter approval other than a tax on the net incomes of natural persons is unconstitutional.

 

Texas Education Agency Does the Right Thing: Agrees Federal Hurricane Relief Funds Should ALL Go to School Districts

This afternoon, the Texas Education Agency issued a press release (.pdf) that "All federal impact aid sent to Texas to help cover the cost of educating Hurricane Katrina evacuees will be promptly sent to affected school districts and charter schools."  There has been significant pressure on TEA for several months to comply with the intent of the Federal Disaster Relief legislation that directed money to school districts on a per student basis for students who were forced to relocate due to the hurricanes.  TEA had previously contemplated retaining a portion of the federal funds, something clearly not contemplated by the legislation.

The TEA press release also states

When Congress appropriated $645 million in impact aid to be shared by 49 states, lawmakers had planned to provide $6,000 in federal funding for each regular education student and $7,500 for each student with disability. However, the initial count turned into the U.S. Department of Education by the states shows that districts are educating 157,743 students eligible for this funding, which means funding proration is all but certain. Some Texas congressmen are predicting that about $4,000 per student will ultimately be available.

With approximately 1100 evacuee students in Spring Branch, we could be looking at $4.4 million which will be very helpful as we attempt to meet the educational challenges faced by many of the evacuee students.

Entertainment Tonight to Feature "God or the Girl"

Entertainment Tonight will air a story tonight on A&E's upcoming show, "God or the Girl"  Entertainment Tonight airs at 6:30pm in Houston on NBC.