AUSTIN, Texas -- After a school year plagued with shortfalls, a group of Texas teachers was meeting at the State Capitol again Wednesday to push lawmakers to put more money into the public education system.
The Texas State Teacher’s Association is meeting at the speaker’s committee room to show lawmakers how recent cuts in public education have affected schools. The group is also expected to announce an initiative aimed to stop more cuts to the education budget.
This school year, districts statewide faced some of the deepest shortfalls in history. Despite numerous rallies at the capitol, the big cuts came.
With the state taking away money, districts found themselves forced to lay off teachers, cut programs and close campuses. While some are now rebounding, the threat remains.
The TSTA wants lawmakers to make changes to prevent similar cuts in the future. One suggestion includes closing corporate tax loopholes.
The group says those loopholes have allowed companies to drain hundreds of billions of dollars from public schools.
“We’re not calling for a tax increase, we just need tax fairness,” said TSTA President Rita Haecker. “Many big corporations make billions of dollars in profits from our free enterprise system, and some pay no taxes at all.”
The National Education Association says closing the tax loopholes would have put about $915 million back into Texas education.
The group goes before lawmakers at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Haecker says State Representative Donna Howard will also attend.
