Wendy Davis: Greg Abbott should settle school finance lawsuit, seek special session to redesign fund
Saying that Attorney General Greg Abbott is defending the indefensible, state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, Monday called on Abbott to settle the school finance lawsuit now before District Judge John Dietz, and seek a special session of the Legislature to design a new school funding formula that would pass constitutional muster.
I call on him today to settle this case, said Davis at a press conference in the frigid cold in front of the Austin Community College campus on Rio Grande Street. Now is the time to end this mess. Its time to move forward.
Davis said she thought it would be in order to convene a special session of the Legislature to work on developing a new plan for financing public schools, and that Abbott ought to take the lead in calling for the Legislature to do just that.
School finance expert Lynn Moak testified in the school funding case that it would take an additional $6 billion a year to adequately fund education. Davis said she thought that the money already exists to spend what it takes, and that it is simply a matter of the Legislature establishing its priorities. She said that when the Legislature made slashing cuts in school spending in 2011, there was $6 billion in the states Rainy Day Fund. Davis staged a filibuster against those cuts.
More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional/wendy-davis-greg-abbott-should-settle-school-finan/ndJ4h/ .