Unlike the past few years, when it seemed that the Legislature was passing one landmark bill after another, this year's session was fairly quiet on the education front, local officials said.

The most significant education bill passed by the Legislature this year provides for an $800-a-year raise for teachers, counselors and paraprofessionals.

“It looks like we'll receive a little bit of additional revenue next (budget) year, but a significant part of that is dedicated to teacher pay raises,” said Randy Brown, superintendent of Coahoma Independent School District. “I think it's great that teachers are getting a raise and they certainly deserve one ... but (this bill) makes it sound like the district will be getting additional funds. We're really not.”

Additional state aid is needed, Brown said, because Coahoma and other districts are limited in the amount of revenue they can raise. The financing formula for these districts is locked in — if local revenue exceeds those limits, state aid decreases — so there is only so much revenue the schools can count on.

“(The Legislature) really didn't do anything to help us in that area,” Brown said. “The major thing we were hoping for was help in finances, but we didn't get it.”

Brown also was disappointed that the Legislature didn't take any action in the area of vocational education. CISD, along with other Howard County public schools, is looking at establishing a cooperative vocational program through Howard College, but those efforts are currently hamstrung by state guidelines.”

Big Spring ISD Assistant Superintendent Steven Saldivar, meanwhile, is taking more of a wait-and-see attitude toward this year's legislative session.

“I'm going to reserve comments until I've had a chance to study the bills further,” said Saldivar, who will assume superintendent duties at BSISD in July. “I'm really anxious to see what the entire school accountability bill will look like ... and how the pay raises will be applied.”

Contact Staff Writer Steve Reagan at 263-7331 ext. 234 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it