The Revolt Has Begun: Texans up in arms on school-finance failure

DallasNews.com | News for Dallas, Texas | Opinion: Editorials: "A bandwagon is rolling that is tailor-made for Texans fed up with the Legislature's bumbling, half-hearted approach to funding public schools.

Call it the 'Throw the Bums Out Express.'

It got its first big results this week with the ugly meltdown of the House's school-finance plan, which Republican leaders couldn't get their confused and beleaguered majority to pass.

Members attributed the defeat to getting 'beaten up back home' by parents and educators demanding enough money to properly educate their kids.

Hallelujah. The message is getting through to the Capitol.

Enough Texans have rightly pegged lawmakers as more intent on handing out a token property tax cut than committed to building strong schools. They have seen through the charade of higher consumer taxes for a marginal, short-term funding gain. They see the broken promise of finding a long-term fix based on restructured business taxes and substantially lower property taxes."