<p>Missypie, I believe that you can freely criticize (in this forum) the positions of Perry when it relates to school funding in Texas.</p>
<p>For the record, and as I hinted, taxpayers in the Park Cities were the loudest critics of the Robin Hood plan. Of course, when their school districts were forced to cut some services in Dallas only to see the poorer districts in South or East Texas use the funds to build olympic-sized swimming pools … they had a legitimate reason to be unhappy. This said, I believe that those lamentations have since died. </p>
<p>Further, I do not think that everyone who lives in Highland Park or University Park would be happy with (or could afford) continuous property tax increases. Indeed one can be mesmerized by the mansions on Beverly, but there are plenty of of 2 bedrooms cottages that house families who could NOT afford to send all their children to St. Marks, Hockaday, ESD, or Greenhill. All in all, it was probably a deliberate choice to live a smaller, pricier home to AVOID having to add 12 to 15 years of private tuition for 1, 2, or 3 children. That is, however, NOT a sign of supporting their public schools. Most people who, as you say, can afford the private tuition without crimping their lifestyles, are gladly driving their children to the tony privates. </p>
<p>Fwiw, this is not dissimilar to the exodus of families that looked at abandoning the Dallas ISD. One generation ago, people who not have imagined the growth of communities such as Southlake, Coppell, or even McKinney and Allen. As it has been said before, many people in the US have the ability of practicing SCHOOL CHOICE by voting with their feet and moving to brand new districts to insulate and isolate themselves from the collapsing urban school districts. Unfortunately, many do not have that choice. Hence the reason for equalizers such as the Robin Hood type of plans. </p>
<p>As far as your willingness to see higher taxes, I believe that you should contact your politicans and ask them to explore to raise the property taxes on families who benefit for this archaic system of taxation … and lower the taxes on people who are victimized. It would not even represent an adminstrative hurdle. All that would be needed is to remove the homeowner’s exemption to any family who has one child in a local public school. People who pay for private schools should keep their exemption, and people who have no children attending a school should get a bonus representing one-half of the money raised by removing the exemption. Schools should thus keep 50% of the bonus money. </p>
<p>Could such a law pass? Not in a hundred years! People are fed up with paying property taxes in the 3 to 4 percent rate per annum, with the bulk of it going to schools. People are fed up because the schools are unable to manage their budgets properly as they waste money on management, supervision, and plenty of perks for the uber-protected. If families were given a fixed budget per child, things would be different. A family with two kids could have a 20,000 “allowance” and decide if they actually ant to “top” that up with an increase. Now, that money is an abstract concept as taxpayers do not understand where it goes and how much the K-12 education of their children really cost them … and how much is subsidized by plenty of others. Little wonder why many families are shocked when they see the college COA for the first time. </p>
<p>You really must be in a minority who would welcome paying more taxes to help such a sinking ship maintain its course to nowhere.</p>