Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Rick Perry wants to make more than funding changes in public schools.

AUSTIN - Texas leaders sound upbeat about the chances of finally overhauling the education finance system during the upcoming legislative session, but old controversies already are being rekindled.

Gov. Rick Perry is serving notice that he wants to make more than funding changes in the public schools.

And he is armed with a new report from business advisers who want, among other things, to spend tax dollars on school vouchers, boost funding for charter schools and restructure the way teachers are paid.

Those proposals, strongly opposed by many educator groups and many Democrats, already are producing fireworks, two months before lawmakers convene Jan. 11.

Perry told a business audience in Dallas earlier this week that Texas has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to provide "meaningful reform" to public education.

He is expected to deliver a similar message today in an address to the Greater Houston Partnership.

Perry, during his speech in Dallas, didn't discuss in detail the report, recently drafted by the Governor's Business Council.

But he called the work "promising."

And he is known to advocate some of the group's proposals, such as merit pay for teachers and tax-paid vouchers to give students from low-performing schools the opportunity to attend better public or private schools.

Charles Miller, a Houston businessman who helped develop the report, said business leaders don't want to spend more tax dollars on public education without knowing how the schools are going to be improved.

"What we need to do is make it (the public school system) better," he said.

The report cites significant failures, including poorly performing schools, particularly in low-income neighborhoods; high dropout rates, particularly among minority students; and large numbers of high school graduates who are unprepared for college.

The council proposes that funding for charter schools, which are publicly funded but are exempt from many state regulations, be increased.

The report also recommends that the state education commissioner be authorized to convert a public school that is consistently low-performing into an independent charter school with new management.

Miller said the state, if necessary, should increase oversight of charter schools.

He also said using tax-backed vouchers to send children to private schools could be a last resort if other options for improving education fail.

Another recommendation, sure to draw fire from teachers groups, would replace the seniority-based teacher-salary schedule with a system based mostly on merit.

Carolyn Boyle, coordinator of the Coalition for Public Schools, which includes the League of Women Voters, the Texas PTA and a number of other education and public advocacy groups, said she wasn't surprised at the business council's recommendations.

"There are special interests pushing these, corporations wanting to open chains of private and charter schools in Texas paid for by taxpayers," Boyle said.

"It's all about money. They are looking at our kids and seeing dollar signs," she added.

State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, said he opposed vouchers and predicted the proposal, which has failed in previous legislative sessions, would encounter strong resistance again.

"The worst thing you can do right now is take money away from our public schools," he said.

On the school-finance front, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick said they continue to seek a plan that would significantly reduce local school property taxes in exchange for higher state taxes. Dewhurst said he wants to cut local school taxes by one-third.

An expanded business tax, plus higher taxes on alcohol and cigarettes, were mentioned as likely alternatives.