AUSTIN – It's unlikely the Legislature will designate a campus – such as the University of Texas at Dallas – to become a top-echelon school to ease the burden on UT-Austin, Texas A&M and Rice, Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday.

For years, state leaders and academics have said Texas needs another Tier I school to educate the best graduate students and to continue to attract high-level jobs, but the political will to invest and elevate one campus over another has proved nettlesome.

Perry said he doesn't see it happening this year, either.

"We have to go develop our higher-education system in a broader fashion. Where that is and which school that is, I don't have that answer," he said.

And he doesn't believe there is near enough consensus to get there in the next 138 days, he said.

In a wide-ranging interview to kick off the legislative session, Perry also said he is unconvinced that state schools for the severely mentally disabled are in violation of civil rights as outlined in a U.S. Justice Department report.

He said he has asked chief of staff Jay Kimbrough to investigate the allegations and advise him.

"There are some great concerns out there," he said. "There's still some investigating to do to find out whether this is a systemic problem. What I don't want to see happen is a knee-jerk reaction to an isolated situation."

Perry also said he has faith in the state's criminal justice system even though DNA testing in Dallas County cases has led to the exoneration of 19 people. This week, the 10th condemned Texas inmate was freed from death row.

He said no conviction commissions or death penalty moratoriums are needed. "By and large, we have a system that is fair, that works well, that is open to correcting errors that are made," Perry said.

While he has heightened his national profile, Perry attributed it to being the leader of a large state and denied any higher ambition.

On national politics, he said he spoke to President George W. Bush the day after the general election to commiserate. He said he called the president again recently to thank him for his service and welcome him home, but they have not spoken.

"He's had an interesting presidency," Perry mused, saying that overall, he thinks he's been a good president.

Of President-elect Barack Obama, he offered some targeted praise, saying he had "made some good early choices with [national security adviser nominee] Jim Jones, leaving [Robert] Gates at defense and Janet [Napolitano], because Janet really understands how this border functions."

Napolitano, the Arizona governor, is Obama's nominee for Homeland Security secretary.

Perry said he was concerned at recent military reports that suggested the Mexican government might fail, and said Congress has done a poor job of securing the border. He said Napolitano will understand the problems of border states, as well as the frustrations they share with Homeland Security on disaster relief.

Earlier in the day, Perry joined Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and newly elected House Speaker Joe Straus in saying they expect budget writers to cut waste and resist temptations to spend billions parked in the state's "rainy day" fund.