Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

A shopper at H-E-B stated unequivocally that she thinks a state income tax is "not a good idea."

Maxine Edwards, 56, a Beaumont homemaker, then repeated her claim more emphatically. "I just don't think that would be a good idea."

A state income tax, like Virginia and California have, is an idea that a few - a very few - Texans are talking about as a possible solution to the school finance conundrum.

But others, like Edwards, have an I-think-not stance on it.

The idea often is considered poison in political circles.

A state district judge ruled last month that Texas must find a new way to fund public education.

The current share-the-wealth property tax system was ruled unconstitutional, and legislators were given a year to find a solution.

Port Neches-Groves and West-Orange-Cove school districts were among those suing the state in that case.

Under the so-called "Robin Hood" system, they are considered property-wealthy and must send a portion of their tax revenue back to the state to be redistributed to poorer districts.

Texas is one of only seven states that does not have a state income tax - holdouts in a nation that taxes paychecks to fund education.

Texas, Alaska, Nevada, Florida, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming have no state income tax.

These states have found other ways: oil wealth, sales taxes, property taxes and gaming.

It's up to those who write the checks and fill out the forms to decide the best way.

In Texas, state sales taxes and local property taxes fund the state's $27 billion education budget. The state pays 43 percent of the cost of education, while local taxes pay 53 percent. The rest comes from federal coffers and a smattering of other taxes and fees. The state spends an average of $6,500 per student annually.

Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, said that a state income tax was never even mentioned when he was first elected in 1998, but now it is a part of the conversation.

"It says something that there's only seven states that don't have one," he said.

Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, visited Beaumont recently to push his plan to reduce property taxes and sales taxes and implement a state income tax.

Deshotel suggested that voters might be more inclined to consider it if they knew property taxes and sales taxes would go down.

"I think it's wrong just to take it off the table," he said.

Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, took the opposite view. "It's not going to happen," he said by telephone. "It's not under serious consideration at all."

He said he studied states such as California, which has a state income tax, over three years and saw a revenue dip. In states such as Florida, which relies mostly on sales taxes, revenue went up slightly, he said.

He suggested closing tax loopholes and moving money within the state budget to fix school finance.

For states without an income tax, the systems are mostly variations on the same theme: sales tax and property tax.

In Nevada, sales tax rakes it in. The sales tax makes up 44 percent of the budget, with local property taxes making up 20 percent and gambling taxes providing 10 percent. The federal government and a hodgepodge of other service taxes and fees make up the rest, said Doug Thunder, deputy supervisor for fiscal services in the Nevada Department of Education.

The state's education budget stands at about $1 billion per year for the state's 400,000 students.

A state income tax is unlikely. "We took the step a few years ago making it unconstitutional," Thunder said by phone from Carson City.

Texas, too, would have to amend its constitution and take it to voters to have such a tax.

In the chilly vastness of Alaska, money for education comes from royalties on the oil rolling down the pipeline.

Harry Gamble, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, said in a phone interview from Juneau that oil wealth makes up most of the state's $700 million contribution to the annual education budget.

The state pays 56 percent of the $1.4 billion total education budget, with local taxes taking care of 27 percent and the federal government footing the rest.

In Washington, where the state's share of the education budget is $10.8 million, a state property tax and sales tax provide the money. More than 70 percent of education money comes from the state, 15 percent from local property taxes and the rest from federal money and other fees.

Kim Schmanke, media relations specialist for the Washington Department of Public Instruction, said from Olympia that nearly half of all of state spending is on the one million students in public schools.

South Dakota, which ranked near the top of the National Assessment of Educational Progress yearly report card for 2003, also uses sales tax and local property taxes.

The $320 million education budget is made up mostly of sales taxes, with the next largest source being video lottery revenue, said Stacy Krusemark, fiscal officer for South Dakota's Department of Education.

About 54 percent comes from the state, with 46 percent from local property taxes, he said.

Some of these states have wavered over the way they fund schools. In South Dakota, the sales tax on food might be lifted in a November election. If that happens, income tax talk could pop up again, Krusemark said.

In Alaska, government had to dip into savings accounts when oil prices dropped.

Dave Bruns, spokesman for the Florida Department of Revenue, said state sales tax and local property taxes fund Florida's education system. How much each puts into education depends on how wealthy individual districts are. The poorer a school district, the more the state puts in, Bruns said.

On average, Florida pays about half the education bill, he said.

People don't like the idea of a state income tax in Florida, either.

Bruns predicted that the state would do that about the time Satan's hockey team wins the championship.

Or as Texas Sen. Williams put it, "We'll pass a state income tax over my dead body."