As much as we'd like to support the Senate Education Committee's school funding bill, we can't in its current form. GOP Sen. Florence Shapiro has tried to get her committee to improve upon the House's earlier crack at school finance. And Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has put his muscle into the effort. But the plan the committee will vote on perhaps as early as this week doesn't adequately fund schools.

A state court ruled last year that legislators must "adequately" fund schools, which means substantially hiking school spending. Across Texas, schools have cut staff, slashed supplies and trimmed college prep courses. Those are the very items teachers need to prepare graduates to compete with students from India and China for jobs.

For the last year, this page has shown how to meet the court's demand. We'd raise about $8 billion in new school funds over the next two years and cut local school taxes in half by setting a universal business tax at 3.5 percent and hiking cigarette taxes by a dollar.

The Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce and Dallas Citizens Council, as well as the Center for Public Policy Priorities, support this idea, too, so we're proud to stand with those Texans who want to really improve schools.

The Senate plan falls short of this mark. While senators say the plan raises $6.7 billion over two years in new funds, it doesn't provide that much.

About 20 percent of the so-called "new" money goes to fund enrollment growth. That's a routine expense, which hardly counts as bonus cash. Likewise, the Senate includes in its plan about $1 billion from local districts. We're still wondering how local spending counts as part of the state's commitment to schools.

Yes, there are reasons to like this bill. For one thing, it tries to improve Texas' charter schools.
But this proposal will fall short unless the committee comes up with a real $6.7 billion in extra funds. We'll be the first to cheer loudly for that progress.