When the 79th Texas Legislative Session adjourned after its regular session, we were close to settling the final details on a package of public education finance reforms and making progress on a school funding package that included property tax cuts. Governor Rick Perry has since called us back for a 30-day special session to complete these tasks.

As I have said before, my goals for any legislation on these topics are that they must contain significant local property tax reductions and result in more money going to our classrooms and our teachers. I also want to know that the new money will lead to improved student performance.

I am pleased to report that progress is being made towards these goals. Both the House and Senate have passed their own versions of public education finance reform. It is House Bill 2 in our chamber and Senate Bill 2 in their side of the Capitol. There will be a conference committee appointed to work out the differences between the two bill versions.

Regarding the funding side of the equation, the House Ways and Means Committee has passed out House Bill 3. This bill may be off the floor by the time this column appears. Things move fast when you only have 30 days!

While both bills are still 'works in progress', I thought it would be useful to hit some highlights. Let's start with the funding bill first.

House Bill 3 cuts property taxes by 27 cents in the first year (down to $1.23 cents per $100 valuation) and reduces them further by 38 cents in the second year ($1.12). Local school districts will have the option of seeking a voter-approved local enrichment tax.

The property tax reductions are financed by raising sales taxes one cent and taking the motor vehicle sales tax from 6.25 percent to 7.35 percent. The cigarette tax also goes up a dollar a pack and two major loopholes in the current business franchise tax are closed.

The current version of House Bill 2 contains a number of notable education improvements, beginning with a teacher pay raise. Teachers demonstrating superior performance will also have an opportunity to participate in mentoring and locally-developed incentive programs. There are also stipends created for teaching in hard to staff campuses or teaching in a subject shortage area.

One major reform is the "65 percent solution", which is a requirement that school districts move towards having a full 65 percent of what they spend go directly to the classroom. This will be phased in, with school districts needing to have half the money go to the classroom by the 2005-2006 school year. This goes up five percent each school year until it hits 65 percent for the 2008-2009 school year.

House Bill 2 also targets rapid sanctions and technical assistance to low-performing schools and makes clear that chronically low-performing charter schools will be closed. Cheating on the TAKS test will also now be a class A misdemeanor with criminal penalties.

Schools will also go back to a more traditional school year starting date under House Bill 2. The school year will start on the Tuesday after Labor Day and end not later than June 7.

The need for better college preparation is also addressed in House Bill 2 through the development of optional state-funded college preparation tests for students in two grade levels and an optional college entrance exam for those in the 11th and 12th grades. The goal is to have students take the preparation tests earlier in their school career to identify their strengths and weakness as they prepare for college. They would then be better prepared to take the college entrance exam as they near the end of high school.

The bill also creates an online Best Practices Clearinghouse that will include recommendations on curriculum, instruction, and business practices.

Again, while both bills are still not in their final forms, I am clearly encouraged by what has happened so far. I will keep you posted on the final product.