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AUSTIN — A Democratic senator from Fort Worth launched a filibuster late Sunday that temporarily killed a measure intended to cut public education by $4 billion, including more than $645 million from Houston-area schools.

Gov. Rick Perry, however, said he would call state lawmakers back into a special session on Tuesday - one day after the regular session ends.

"This puts the budget in crisis," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said.

Nearly all Democrats and some Republican lawmakers object to cutting public education, especially with more than $6 billion sitting in the state's rainy day fund.

"Funding schools at $4 billion less will mean for the first time ever in the history of funding public schools that we are not going to fund student population growth," Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, said during her lengthy speech. "We are failing our schoolchildren by adopting this plan."

Texas expects about 185,000 additional students in the next two years.

Earlier Sunday evening, the House approved the plan by a vote of 84-63. No Democrat supported the plan; 16 Republicans voted against it.

All bills needed to pass before midnight Sunday, the eve of the session's end.

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the governor also could call on lawmakers to deal with other items in a quick session, including "sanctuary city" legislation, an emergency item that failed to pass during the regular session, as well as reform of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.

No public hearings

Lawmakers have to resolve the school funding problem before Sept. 1, when the current budget ends and the new one is to take effect.

House Democrats protested efforts to pass a new school funding plan for the $37 billion the state will spend on public education during the next two years because there were no public hearings. House debate for the new, 300-page plan was limited to 40 minutes of questions and 45 minutes for each side to make speeches.

"No parents have had a say on this bill. No teachers have had a say on this bill. No educators have had a say on this bill. No business leaders have had a say on this bill," Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said. "This is so wrong."

Texas voters should be outraged, he said, adding, "They will get the final say."

Lawmakers, essentially, are being told to "hold your noses, close your eyes and vote for it," Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, told his colleagues.

Public school funding affecting nearly 5 million Texas schoolchildren deserves public input and scrutiny, Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, said.

"This is not enough for public schools," he said, emphasizing that support for cutting public spending will obligate local school boards to raise taxes to cover the difference.

"You are voting for a tax increase today," he said.

Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble, a former school board member, defended the bill. "The plan is fair, is balanced and, more importantly, creates the blueprint for equity in the system in the future," Huberty said.

Federal funding

The new school funding plan would cost Houston-area school districts a combined $645.4 million over the next two years or $745.1 million if federal Education Jobs money is not included. House leaders put the $830 million federal money into their plan to soften the appearance of the education budget cuts in their printout of district-by-district impacts. However, the U.S. Department of Education already has sent those funds - roughly $134 per student - to the Texas Education Agency and are on their way to local school districts.

The public education cuts are about half what were proposed in the preliminary budget.

"Schools in Houston and elsewhere will still suffer significantly in the years to come," Houston ISD officials said in a prepared statement. "Texas is already 43rd in the nation in terms of funding per student and this $4 billion cut will likely move Texas further down that list. Given that this cut is happening at a time when the Legislature is simultaneously moving to a more rigorous accountability system, this substantial reduction in state funding will undoubtedly have an impact on our students' education. Houston and other Texas school districts will not have the same level of resources to provide much-needed tutoring, accelerated learning opportunities, and more teacher support."

To slash $4 billion from public education, $2 billion will come from across the board cuts in the first year followed by another $500 million in the second year. An additional $1.5 billion in the second year will be cut by reducing "target revenue" - a system in place since 2006 that has produced large distortions in school funding. Property wealthy schools general benefit under the target revenue system, which largely froze school funding at 2006 levels with the exception of additional money to cover enrollment growth.

Democrats also complained that the new plan will scrap the state's existing obligation to repay school districts if their appropriations end up less than pledged. It's a change that would allow lawmakers to routinely underfund schools, Hochberg said.

But House Public Education Chair Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, said he doesn't "see that happening."

Political risks

Public school funding cuts likely will highlight next year's election campaigns.

Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, conceded that votes to cut public education may be risky considering public polling results indicate opposition to cuts.

"It may hurt all of us, but we shouldn't make decisions based on a political outcome - our own political neck," she said. "We need to make the decisions based on what is best for our districts and for the people of Texas."

For her and many other Republicans, that meant belt-tightening for all government - including local schools. School boards and administrators will have to make priorities just as families do, Riddle said. "If cuts need to be made, they have to be made from the top down. They need to start with the administration - cutting salaries and cutting positions," she said.

Texans who don't like the tough votes that Republican lawmakers made, Riddle said, "They will get somebody else in here to do it, I suppose. We can all, at least, sleep at night and look at ourselves in the morning knowing that we did what was best - not just what was politically expedient."

Texans who don't like the tough votes that Republican lawmakers made, Riddle said, "They will get somebody else in here to do it, I suppose. We can all, at least, sleep at night and look at ourselves in the morning knowing that we did what was best - not just what was politically expedient."

Not using the rainy day fund to spare public education from funding cuts is like watching a house burn down with a fire hose standing by "because you don't want your water bill may go up," Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, said.

gscharrer@express-news.net

joe.holley@chron.com