Budget battle erupts over pre-K
Abbott, lawmakers at odds over funds for his top priority
AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott, who challenged lawmakers earlier this year to “do it right or don’t do it at all” in funding his signature pre-K program, is finding they are choosing the latter.
In revising their budgets, both the Senate and House eliminated proposed funding for Abbott’s initiative — the Senate doing so on Wednesday night as it worked to finalize its version of the state’s two-year budget.
That prompted an irritated Abbott to make an impromptu face-to-face plea with the Senate’s chief budget writer, Jane Nelson, leading to an abrupt shift by her committee the following morning to restore less than half the funding.
The state is currently spending $118 million for the governor’s high-quality pre-K program in the 2016-17 school year, an amount that Abbott wants doubled for the twoyear budget that starts Sept. 1. After initially including $150 million in the proposed biennial budget, senators cut funding for the program Wednesday night. After the chairwoman’s visit from the governor, the panel reversed course and budgeted $65 million for the program, leaving no money for additional forms of pre-K spending.
Several senators confirmed the meeting and said Abbott was incensed that the Senate had cut funding for his pet pre-K program, the state’s business-development Enterprise Fund, a university
research initiative and the film incentives fund.
In all, senators said they were directed to restore about $190 million in funding for those programs at the urging of Abbott.
Noted for absence
While it is not uncommon for governors to visit with lawmakers during a legislative session, those meetings most often take place in the governor’s office on the second floor of the Capitol — and not after hours in a lawmaker’s office. In addition, the Wednesday night visit was the talk of the Texas Capitol on Thursday because of its surprise nature — and because Abbott so far in the session has been noted more for his absence on legislative issues than for his involvement.
He has withheld taking sides on several major issues, the most noticeable being the controversial “bathroom bill” that has made national headlines and pitted Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has tagged the measure a top priority, against House Speaker Joe Straus, who has played down its importance.
Abbott aides have explained his lack of involvement by saying he prefers to let lawmakers work through issues, and that he will decide where he stands after he gets a final version of the bill that he can either veto or sign into law. In a December meeting with reporters, the governor questioned whether existing laws already address any bathroom issues.
While senators on Friday confirmed the restoration of funding to several Abbott initiatives after his meeting with Nelson, Abbott press secretary John Wittman would not discuss details of the meeting.
But he said, “It’s incomprehensible that the Senate is jeopardizing the future of Texas students by depriving them of high quality pre-K, instead forcing them into an unaccountable program.”
A clear message
A champion of what he calls “high quality pre-K,” Abbott wanted lawmakers to pump $236 million into a grant program he devised in the 2015 legislative session. That year, lawmakers cut funding in half, leaving the program with $118 million for the 2016-17 school year alone.
Abbott’s program requires school districts and charter schools to apply for additional pre-K money, which this school year totaled $734 for each of about 190,000 children, or 86 percent of the state’s preschoolers.
In return, districts accepting the money agreed to elevate pre-K standards, such as higher teacher qualifications, reporting student progress back to the state, a family engagement plan and other conditions.
Abbott still wants it fully funded, but neither the House nor the Senate is following suit.
The House originally budgeted $118 million for the 2017-18 school year, but later decided to cut funding altogether and move the money to a supplemental fund that would allow the Texas Education Agency to spread the money throughout the state without strings attached.
As for the Senate, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said there’s an appetite to shift away from a dedicated high-quality pre-K program and instead require all such programs to adhere to high-quality standards.
“I think we’re to the point where we can basically go forward with taking the standards from what was the high quality and basically putting that into the entire pre-K system in the state. People should be able to meet those standards, otherwise, why do it?” asked Bettencourt.
Abbott made it clear at his State of the State address in January that lawmakers’ approach to pre-K should be, “do it right or don’t do it at all.”
“I’m just dumbfounded and proud that pre-K has become part of the grand bargain. We have arrived,” said Jason Sabo, a longtime education and social issues lobbyist who pointed out that early education had been a touchy subject for years until Abbott made it a priority.
Tuition, reform next up
Advocates for the governor’s pre-K initiative contend the program is the best way to divvy up money to ensure the funds are spent on high-quality programs, but say the spending is only worth it if the state can spend more money per student.
“After making a commitment to improving pre-K quality during the last legislative sessions, we’re concerned that legislators are now turning their backs on that commitment,” said Stephanie Rubin, CEO of Texans Care for Children, a proponent for early education. “There is still time for legislators to make changes, although the clock is definitely ticking. Children who need an effective pre-K program to help them start kindergarten on grade level are counting on legislators to get this right.”
With the legislative session roughly halfway over, the two chambers and the governor’s office appear to have differing priorities on several issues that appear to be generating friction.
In January, Abbott identified four “emergency” issues on which he requested swift legislative action: A ban on sanctuary cities, ethics reform, an overhaul of Child Protective Services programs and Texas’ support for a Convention of States to consider revisions to the U.S. Constitution.
By the end of the first 60 days, the Senate had approved all four. The House has only approved the CPS reforms, with the other three now languishing in House committees awaiting major revisions.
Next week, a Senate committee is expected to debate a bill giving publicschool students tuition to attend private schools. Last week, senators passed and sent to the House the “bathroom bill” that bans transgender people from using the bathroom that corresponds to their chosen gender.
In the House, the focus appears to be on debating school-finance reform — but not school choice — in a committee next week. Abbott has said he supports school choice, putting him at odds with the House.