Feds reject Texas’ application for education funds

Oops.

The U.S. Department of Education has rejected Texas’ application for $830 million in federal money for schools and asked the state to resubmit its request without conditions.

The rejection was based on a line in the state’s application that said Texas’ constitution and laws supersede any assurances made by the governor in the application. Republican Gov. Rick Perry and the state’s top education official added the language because, in order to get the money, Texas must ensure schools will be funded at a certain level for the next three years — an assurance they believe is unconstitutional.

Texas officials responded with a letter Thursday saying the earliest they could constitutionally guarantee the amount of money Texas spends on schools is next July, after the next state budget becomes law. The letter asks the Education Department for a written commitment to save the funds for Texas until that time.

You know, this really shouldn’t be that hard. All that needs to be done is to say that we’ll try our level best to comply with the regulation. To say that we’ll try, but we probably can’t do it, that just doesn’t seem like a winning strategy. At least we were given a second chance; let’s hope we don’t screw it up again.

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