Excerpted from
The Houston Chronicle
February 9, 2005

HISD trustee takes school bill to task
Finance panel is told that proposal doesn't put money where the greatest needs are

By JANET ELLIOTT

AUSTIN - A Houston school board trustee was among several witnesses who expressed concern Wednesday that a proposed House school finance bill doesn't consider the cost of educating students who come from impoverished homes and have limited English skills.

"It is precisely those children who are the most expensive to educate," said Harvin Moore, a trustee of the Houston Independent School District.

Moore also called for the state to fund full-day pre-kindergarten for at-risk students. And he criticized a proposal to delay the start of school until after Labor Day.

Moore said half-day pre-K doesn't work for many families because the parents can't leave work to pick up their children.

"The trouble is there are a large number of students in families where they're not read to. These are the children that must have pre-K if they are to enter kindergarten somewhere near where the rest of the kids are," he said.

Moore was among about a dozen witnesses who testified about House Bill 2, which rewrites the state's "Robin Hood" school finance law, requires teacher incentives and places new accountability measures on schools.