Texas Democrats are fighting what’s perhaps a noble, albeit losing, battle over State Fiscal Stabilization Fund money that’s designed to help prop up states’ K-12 education budgets.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and fellow Republicans have figured out, like a lot of other states, that even if you don’t really need to cut education, you can cut K-12 anyway and fill the cuts with federal stimulus money, thereby freeing up money for other government programs that would have been spent on education.

In one case, Democrats fought a valiant and creative fight as members of the Texas congressional delegation threatened to withhold their votes on a war-spending bill if Congress didn’t amend the law to stop Texas’ planned use of education-stimulus dollars. But that maneuver was ultimately unsuccessful.