House panel approves plan to slash education funding

From mysanantonio.com

AUSTIN — The House Appropriations Committee voted largely along party lines Saturday in recommending a controversial plan that would cut public education funding at least $4 billion, which more than 200 Texans later protested during a Capitol rally.

The full House will take up the school funding bill this week in a special legislative session Gov. Rick Perry called Tuesday after Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, killed the plan to cut public education with a filibuster in the last hours of the regular session.

Public school teachers and parents rallied under the Capitol dome to protest the cuts before moving to the Appropriations Committee hearing room in the underground extension — where they arrived after the committee had voted.

“I can’t sit by idly and watch the Legislature cut education to the core like this,” said Hilary Whitfield, an Austin parent whose son’s elementary school was threatened with closure. “It’s immoral, unconstitutional and I can’t believe everyone isn’t rioting in the streets.”

Davis received a rock star’s welcome when she addressed the crowd.

She complained that the budget gave billions in tax breaks to business and kept $6 billion in the state’s rainy day fund while cutting future school spending.

“What we said was we value holding on to rainy day money, we value keeping corporate loopholes in place, and we don’t value funding public education for our children,” Davis said. Protesters later stood outside the committee room and loudly chanted “save our schools.”