Jacksonville Daily Progress: Putting politics before school finance reform

Jacksonville Daily Progress: Putting politics before school finance reform: "A simple rule of scientific experimentation - don't attempt the same action multiple times and expect a different result.

And yet, our state legislators are back in Austin again, watching the same bills and the same ideas continue to die in the quest for school finance reform.

Representatives are in the second special session of the summer, and judging by past experiences, this session will waste more than a million dollars in taxpayers' money so the House and Senate can have a staring contest to decide how to pay for public education - a both blink at the same time.

Bills that have been introduced earlier in the summer - and failed - only cut funding to, but did not eliminate, the state's 'Robin Hood' recapture plan, which takes money from property-tax rich school districts and distributes it to property-poor ones.

While the Legislators argue over how to phrase 'Robin Hood Jr.,' the Texas Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a court case questioning the legality of the entire system. More than 300 districts initiated the suit against the state, claiming the current finance plan cannot provide all Texas children with a 'general diffusion of knowledge.'"