Republican congressional candidate Bill Flores, of Bryan, has a problem with a Texas-specific provision in a recently passed education jobs bill: It favors urban over rural and suburban school districts.

The bill passed the U.S. House on Tuesday with the support of Flores’ opponent, Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.

It includes $830 million for Texas schools.

Chet Edwards (right) supported a House bill that provides funding for education as Bill Flores (left) and other state Republicans criticized a clause in the bill.

Flores took issue with a requirement that Texas divvy up the funds using a federal formula based on the number of low-income students in school districts.

The Texas-specific provision was written by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, in response to past action by the Texas Legislature. Last year, lamakers accepted more than $3 billion in federal money for education but then moved state dollars out of schools to cover other costs and balance the budget.

The language seeks to prevent a repeat of last year and also specifies that the state use the federal formula.

The Texas Education Agency, also critical of the legislation, put out a spreadsheet that singled out schools that would have received a larger share of the money if Texas were to dole it out using a state formula.

Referring to the TEA’s statistics, a Flores campaign press release stated, “McLennan County schools will receive over $2.1 million less than they would have under current allocation formulas.”

That calculation, however, didn’t include three school districts. Waco ISD, which receives far more money under the federal formula, was the most notable omission.

When counting all the school districts in the county, McLennan County comes out about $1 million ahead under the jobs bill, with Waco ISD receiving almost $3.1 million more.

Megan Jacobs, a campaign spokeswoman for Edwards, said Flores was “blatantly misleading voters,” and she also noted that the bill had the support of numerous educational associations.

Asked about the discrepancy, Flores’ campaign manager Matt Mackowiak pointed to three districts disadvantaged under the federal formula.

“If you’re China Spring, Midway or Robinson (ISDs), it doesn’t help you that a major portion of the funding you would have normally received goes to another school district,” Mackowiak said.

‘Winners and losers’

He objected more generally to the federal government “picking winners and losers among local school districts”

Jacobs said the bill provides $8 million to schools in the county, with a budget increase for each district, “preventing layoffs and reducing the need to increase school class sizes and local property taxes.”

She added that spending in the legislation was offset with cuts elsewhere.

Several school officials said they got their first look at funding estimates Wednesday, and reactions to the formula provision were mixed among officials at suburban and rural districts.

Gary Faunce, Midway ISD’s assistant superintendent of finance, said that for Midway, “it would be a whole lot better to tie the funding” to the state formula.

But he was quick to add he was eager to get the district’s estimated allotment of nearly $247,000.

“That’s five teachers,” he said, noting the money could help hire teachers to keep the district’s student-teacher ratio in line with a state requirement.

“Quite frankly, I think it’s good,” said Kevin Houchin, McGregor ISD’s superintendent of the bill, even after learning his district was estimated to receive $145,000 rather than the $228,000 it might have gotten under the state formula.

‘We were robbed’

Both Faunce and Houchin said they understood the Texas-specific provision in the law, given the way the state legislature handled stimulus money.

“I felt like we were robbed,” Faunce said of the state’s handling of stimulus and education money last year. “There was new money coming into the state, and it never made it out to the districts, which leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”

Houchin noted that funding in the stimulus “was four times the amount we’re talking about here.”

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

757-5707

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