Despite pressure from union leaders and district administrators, the Houston school board voted 6-3 Thursday to reject a budget that would have raised the property tax rate by 4 cents to repair buildings, buy new computers and increase funding to schools.
The majority of the board members said they didn’t want to burden property owners with the extra taxes.
Of course, some school boards still Don’t Get It:
Others, including Humble, jumped at the chance to receive matching state money.
"Though I certainly can understand wanting to explore the option of a lower tax rate, it would cause us to make cuts that would dramatically impact students and learning," said Humble Superintendent Guy Sconzo, whose board agreed Thursday to a budget predicated on the full 4-cent increase.
Predictably, the educrats bitch and moan:
"They made an irresponsible vote," said Andy Dewey, vice president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. "The board did not show that they were friends of teachers or students tonight."
Andy, the board doesn’t work for teachers. It doesn’t work for students. It works for the taxpayers.
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Matt did you take this from my site…
hehe
hey how about the free breakfast and lunches? if the kids do not get breakfast and lunches why not report them to cps (child protective services)?
if they are poor they get food stamps and other bennys.
what is wrong with this. the libs created cps why not use it we pay for it.
bob fulton
hockley
The Humble ISD is a shambles when it comes to funding…they waste money…(i.e. it was reported that they spent $270,000 for stage curtains at one of the schools)…can you believe that? Then they wanted to “pay” some company for Astroturf for another school to the tune of approximately $1 million. They don’t know how to handle money…and the constituents are getting fed up with their handling of funds in such an irresponsible manner. Educators are not as educated as they are expected to be especially in Humble where they want to “glamorize” things at the expense of putting the money where it should go - FOR TEACHERS, not for beautifcation projects or photo ops of their superintendent. Cut all the “fluff” and get to some real education.
I read that Dr. Saavedra said that he could work with the board’s decision and that teachers did get their pay raise. I am glad for that. HISD teachers deserve every penny they receive. The state gave school districts the ability to raise the rate. Apparently, there was not time to put a convincing package together and some board members felt like they could not vote for it because they needed more details. I do not blame the board members although it is a shame that HISD missed out on $12,000,000 in state matching funds. I do not see how anyone could doubt that they could use it. The author is correct that school boards are responsible to the taxpayers, but they also have some fiduciary responsibility to look out for the best interests of the children. If the taxpayers insist that they want to pay less money and the school board does not believe that the district can carry out its responsibilities with less money, then each school board member has a choice to make. Do they do what is best for the district or do they satisfy the demands of the taxpayers. Some would say that the taxpayers should come first. Others would say that the children should come first. Still others would argue that the taxpayers must be accomodated on some level because they will simply remove a board member who is not doing what they want and replace him with someone who will decrease funding even if the school goes to hell in a handbasket (it can always get worse).
#2 “hey how about the free breakfast and lunches? if the kids do not get breakfast and lunches why not report them to cps (child protective services)?”
Do you know that CPS is already overloaded? How much more money do you want to spend on CPS so that they can take and investigate all the calls? And exactly what are they supposed to do? Take the children from their parents? That would cost more money.
Studies have shown that children perform better when they have something to eat (isn’t that surprising? how would we know what to do without these studies? :). The bottom line is that we need as many of these children to perform as possible if our country is going to have any future. If a parent cannot or will not take care of his children, then what are we to do? It is better to pay now than to have to pay for even more prisons later. Or would you propose to put the children and their parents in jail now? More money. It is more fiscally responsible and realistic to just pay for the breakfast.
#3 I am now very careful when I hear anyone discussing “fluff” in school district funding. I acknowledge that not all school districts are created equal, but I live in an excellent school district that was recently charged with having “fluff” in its appropriations. The problem was that when the facts were examined carefully, the “fluff” disappeared. The critics have yet to issue a retraction.
I encourage you to carefully examine the facts. Talk with the school district. Go to the Board meetings. Maybe Humble ISD does have a problem, but maybe not. Do not believe everything that people tell you. Do not believe everything that you read. Verify. Be informed. The future of our country depends upon it.
I am sick of hearing, “but, it is FOR the children.” When are school districts going to be held accountable for what they spend? Do we just give them carte blanche? “For the children” has gotten too out of hand these days. Let’s audit the school districts, who get an average of 6% increase EACH year. The children do not receive 1/16th of those revenues.
Have you asked yourselves why the schools must run fund raising drives, sell magazines, candy, etc. It is because all our tax monies are going towards administration and nothing towards the classroom.
#4
just why are schools outfitted with nurseries for the kids at school? the taxpayer pays for this and the diaper changes.
who started this crap? next we will be feeding them supper and provide them with free cell phones etc. where does this stop?
bob fulton
hockley
cps was started to protect the children. abuse with hitting is no worse than abuse from starving imo.
bob fulton
hockley
#5
It is not just for the children. All of us benefit when we provide children with the best possible opportunity to learn. Do you want them all living on welfare or rotting in prison (we will pay) or do you want to pay now so that we can make an effort to help them live more productive lives? We are going to pay either way, but we will probably pay more the first way and our society will deteriorate more quickly.
The reason that schools have to have fund raisers is that even with the best budget planning (and I am not speaking for all school districts here as the quality varies depending on the constituency) there is still not enough money to meet all the needs so the school has to do what it must by law and fund raise for the rest. Paying for teachers is the largest part of the budget, but you also have to pay for air conditioning, transportation, utilities, maintenance, and on and on. You need administrators to maintain some quality control. There are excellent teachers and there are not so great teachers who need guidance. The alternative to having administrators would be to let each teacher teach whatever he/she wanted however he/she wanted. That does not always work so well because you can have a teacher who is convinced that poor minority children cannot learn. If you give this teacher complete control, then you have a problem. There is also no way to ensure that children are being taught some minimum skills.
#6
I think that the nurseries are there so that teenage mothers have the opportunity to finish school rather than dropping out. This is another situation in which the question is when and how do we want to pay? Should we tell the teenage mother that she cannot finish her education and condemn her to a life on the welfare rolls (we pay forever) OR should we help her with child care now so that she can finish her high school education and perhaps someday become a contributor to our society OR maybe you have another solution?
We can stop wrestling with these difficult issues when we give up the idea of having a free society. Then it will truly be every man for himself.
#7
“cps was started to protect the children. abuse with hitting is no worse than abuse from starving imo.”
You are entitled to your opinion and I think that I agree with you, but what are we going to do about it? Do you want CPS to take all these children away from their parents? Are you willing to pay higher taxes so that we can fund CPS for all this new work? If the children are taken away from their parents, would you be willing to adopt some of them? Do you have friends who would willing to adopt some children as well? What about your family members?
What solution do you propose for this problem? And make sure it doesn’t cost me more money than the current set up.
#8
it high time to put the responsibility where it belongs instead of the govt.
if the unruly kids in school and their parents were assesed a nuisance tax they might make them behave better. just letting them have free run only begets more of the same. this is what got us into this mess in the first place.
why should i as a senior have to pay for the paents and the childs mistakes. they never had nurseries when i was growing up they made the parent take care of it. most times when this occurred once it never happened again. would you want them to have 3 or 4 kids prior to graduating from high school so you can pay for teaching the child and feeding her children untill graduation?
its time for parental taxes on this behavior that costs taxpayers money when it can prevented instead of tax payers taking the slack for the slackers.
also, what about the scools building 87 million dollar stadiums - is that right? indoor swimming pools and the like?
persaonally i have a budget i have to live with govt should do this as well. if they took the waste and gave it to the teachers it would be fine with me since my wife is a teacher. she is retired and teaches in waller. during taks tests this year the ones that failed were put in another class for intensive teaching of taks. the rest were in normal classes. the normal classes were freee of trouble makers and she was able to teach a 1 hour lesson in 20 minutes. theres where your money and kids education are going.
my wife is teaching in waller as a sub. she retired from Klien isd - what district are you in?
bob fulton
hockley
#9
In some districts unruly kids are given tickets and parents have to take them to court.
“why should i as a senior have to pay for the paents and the childs mistakes. they never had nurseries when i was growing up they made the parent take care of it. most times when this occurred once it never happened again. would you want them to have 3 or 4 kids prior to graduating from high school so you can pay for teaching the child and feeding her children untill graduation?”
Why should I, as a non-senior, have to pay Medicare and Social Security taxes that I will probably never see, in order to supplement the retirement and health care of today’s seniors who did or didn’t/couldn’t? plan well? The truth of the matter is that we are all in this together and we have to come up with realistic solutions. None of us who have benefited and continue to benefit from this society should expect that we do not have to pay our fair share.
I gladly pay these taxes because I can see that it benefits our society and it is the honorable thing to do. We should do what we can to take care of our seniors and others in our society who may be less fortunate.
You say that we should just make the parent take care of the baby of the teenager. What if the parent can’t or won’t take on this task? What if the parent is a cocaine addict who can’t find his/her way out of a paper bag? What if the parent takes on the task resulting in higher costs and less revenue because the parent cannot work? Will the government subsidize this activity? Will we put them all on welfare (more money)? Will we put them all in jail (still more money)? OR maybe it just makes the most sense to subsidize the day care and the diapers so that we can minimize costs for everyone. Maybe we might get a productive citizen doing it this way instead of someone who will be a burden on our society forever. It also has the added benefit of giving the day care providers a job. I am not saying that this is a wonderful situation, only that it is the most reasonable approach to a most vexing problem.
“also, what about the scools building 87 million dollar stadiums - is that right? indoor swimming pools and the like?”
I think that you’re talking about the Berry Center in Cy-Fair ISD. Apparently, the voters thought it was right since they passed the 2001 bond referendum which funded the construction of this complex which provides for a place to hold graduation exercises so that people do not have to hoof it to Reliant Stadium to hold graduation exercises. It also has a theater, a 4000 space parking lot, an 11000 seat athletic stadium, a 16000 square foot staff development center that can be partitioned into 17 rooms, a 456-seat auditorium, a multipurpose area designed for 9500 capacity, floor banquet seating and catering facility to accommodate the preparation and serving of 1000 meals and administrative office space among other things.
It sounds like a good thing to me. As time passes needs change. If we want to maintain our standard of living then we need to keep up. This complex should serve the district for decades to come. Of course, the complex can also be used for non-school activities.
As for indoor swimming pools and the like; there are guidelines set by the UIL for participation in pool events. If the pool is not in compliance with the regulations, then the children of that school are unable to compete. Some might say, well let them use the facilities of another school. Well, that is usually impractical because kids have other commitments. Some might say that the pool team is not that big anyway. Well, when you have a decent pool you would be surprised how your pool team can grow. The pool can also be used for conditioning for other sports. These expenditures should not impact seniors who have applied for a homestead exemption and have their taxes frozen.
“persaonally i have a budget i have to live with govt should do this as well. if they took the waste and gave it to the teachers it would be fine with me since my wife is a teacher. she is retired and teaches in waller. during taks tests this year the ones that failed were put in another class for intensive teaching of taks. the rest were in normal classes. the normal classes were freee of trouble makers and she was able to teach a 1 hour lesson in 20 minutes. theres where your money and kids education are going.”
School districts budget and they are audited annually by the state. If you took a careful look at school district, state and county budgeting you would probably discover that these entities are generally much more responsible in budgeting than individual taxpayers so that it is individual taxpayers who should be looking at their budgets rather than insisting that the government reduce revenue and services so that taxpayers can continue living irresponsibly in some cases. The reality is that if the state cut revenue and reduced services, people would scream bloody murder. And there is not as much waste as you might think. Remember Ross Perot?
As for your wife’s TAKS experience, it sounds like separating the kids who were having difficulty worked wonders. I would be happy to pay more taxes for such excellent planning. It may cost more than standard techniques in the short run, but it sounds like a great investment in the long run.
I live in Katy ISD. We had a bond that failed this past May and the district is going to try to put the issue before the voters again in November. The plan was actually a responsible one, but we had a group that disseminated information that was not exactly correct. Among some of the incorrect information, they suggested that Katy ISD schools cost more per square foot or student than the schools in surrounding districts. This is not true because Katy ISD schools are larger and the quoted costs include more than construction costs unlike the quoted costs of the other districts. This group also maligned the district over the $2,350,000 included in the bond package for HDTVs. We are not talking about the huge HDTVs that you may be accustomed to seeing. We are talking about small sets. Within the next two years or so, the non-HDTV systems operating in the older schools are going to be obsolete and the district is going to have to rewire those schools to include HDTV technology. It makes more financial sense to fit the new schools with HDTV technology now rather than using the old technology that will have to be replaced in two years. These are just two examples of incorrect information. While this group continues to state that it has been unfairly accused of spreading misinformation by some it has yet to issue retractions of any sort. This group likes to preach about how it is doing what it is doing because it is the right thing to do, but somehow they are averse to correcting serious mistakes of fact that they have made if it does not suit their purpose. We can be charitable and assume that they honestly misinterpreted these facts in the last bond election, but they need to admit to their mistakes in the coming election if they are to maintain their credibility.
This group’s position is inconsistent because it demands academic excellence while working to defeat planning that would better enable the children and teachers of the district to achieve academic excellence.
#10 Tom,
I live in Cy-Fair and the Berry Center was not voted on by everyone. Not everyone here agrees that is was “right”. It seems odd that the bond election was held in December (2001) - a month where people typically are focused on other things. Aren’t most elections held in March and November anyways?
I think the group that you are referring to deserves a lot more credit than you are giving them. (disclosure: I am in the process of forming a similar group in Cy-Fair) They are getting out additional information that has not been presented in other bond elections.
As a wise commenter once said: Do not believe everything that you read. Verify. Be informed. The future of our country depends upon it.
Well said! All sides should be presented, not just the standard “But it’s for the CHILDREN” mantra that we’ve heard over and over. And voters have the responsibility to listen to both sides and vote (and school districts/college districts - like NHCC - need to stop holding hidden elections)
#11 and all,
The Berry Center was approved by the voters of CFISD in December of 2001. As far as I know there were no voting irregularities. There will always be disagreement about these matters, but hopefully we can all try to work with the same set of facts (which are, of course, accurate). Then we have an election so that the voters can decide.
As for elections being held in March or November, why do we want to have the Democratic party and the Republican party meddle in the affairs of our schools? Don’t they do enough already? If people aren’t motivated enough to find out when the election is and locate the facts, then maybe they should not be voting anyway. The last thing we need is straight ticket voters coming out to vote on a school bond about which they know nothing. This is a recipe for party control of our school boards and, as such, it is a bad idea.
The group to which I referred deserves a great deal of credit. They are a grassroots organization and have a load of energy and zeal.
The problem is that the “additional information” they provided was completely wrong and whenever they have been confronted with the facts, they do not answer. They claim that the pro-bond crowd is “sour grapes”. Maybe so, but the pro-bond crowd has legitimate gripes about incorrect information disseminated by this group during the May bond election cycle. This is not just a matter of opinion.
I agree that all sides should be presented and tested. Here is the truth about what is going on in Katy ISD.
1.The schools that would have been funded by the recently failed bond were all of comparable cost to other area schools AND they would have been more cost-effective in the long-run because they are larger (i.e., fewer administrators to hire, fewer lawns to mow, fewer buildings to cool/heat, etc.)
2.Katy ISD is in an excellent position to take on additional debt. The revenue for this fiscal year is estimated to be $380 million while the debt-servicing is $66.5 million. This gives a debt to income ratio of 17.5% which is fantastic. It would be like a family making $100,000 a year buying a $150,000 house assuming a 30 year loan for an approximate house payment of $1500 a month which allows them to meet their other expenses and plan for the future.
3.The HDTV expense was legitimate as described in my previous post.
4.Katy ISD hires from the inside as well as the outside. You have to hire from the outside or you risk inbreeding and stagnation. It may not work out; but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
5.Growth cannot be “reigned in”. If we fail to build schools and maintain/modernize what we have, people will keep coming, but we will have people who are less invested in supporting our schools and this will lead to lowered property values. Perhaps the “glee” that one sees in the people describing the growth is actually a demonstration of an energy and willingness to do what it takes to do the job right.
6.If we want academic excellence to be the priority then we need to authorize the bonds to pay for resources that will help secure that academic excellence. Paying lip service to academic excellence and working against needed and responsible bond initiatives is an inconsistent position. You get what you pay for.
7.The District’s budget is fine. There is a $19.7 million PROJECTED difference in expenses to revenue according to this group’s website that can be covered by the rainy day fund which can later be replenished, if necessary. School finance is complicated and unfortunately, the system requires districts to jump through all sorts of hoops to make sure that what needs doing is done.
What is it with the, “But its for the CHILDREN” mantra charge? Is this some clever straw man that is going to be set up for the next campaign?
It is not just for the children. It is for all of us. If we do not properly educate the children in appropriate facilities with appropriate technology, then we will face a bleak economic future. We are going to need people to lead our country and help provide us services in our old age. If we do not properly educate the children then that will not happen. Think of it as an investment in our country’s future. If we are too cheap to pay for this needed education then we will pay more in the long run. By the way, our community college systems are also vital to provide economic mobility and opportunity for a critical section of high school graduates. We cannot leave them behind because we cannot carry on without them.
Do not believe what I have written on faith. Go to the sources. Come to the Katy ISD bond committee hearings which are open to the public. During the breaks you can ask the superintendent questions if you are not clear about the information. You can even do this at the school board meetings. The board members are there, the deputy superintendents are there, the architect is there. The people in this district are very accessible.
#11
Ask your friends from the referenced group about this post. See if you are satisfied with their answers. So far, they have stonewalled and it has worked well for them. Maybe they will succeed in misinforming the voters again. Time will tell.
#12 Tom,
The “It’s for the CHILDREN” mantra is what most school boards are fond of saying when defending their positions. BTW in the business world, there is a similar mantra (”It’s for the CUSTOMER”) but that is usually considered along with the stockholders of the company. To not look at the whole picture will cause a company to go bankrupt; I believe that some school districts are not always considering their stockholders when making decisions.
As to voting irregularities, I’m not suggesting that there were any in CyFair or elsewhere, but it sure doesn’t instill confidence when the local community college system has to cancel a bond election because of not having sufficient number of polling locations open. And, having to hear about the election on the day before from our town newspaper or visiting one of the campuses.
I don’t think the Katy Watchdog group has any issues with investing in the school districts and with growth; I think they are concerned with how it is being done. Case in point: school construction.
Mega-schools may be cost effective and comparable to other schools, but is that a good comparison? Can mega-schools be built for less that are just as effective? I know when I purchased my home I passed on some upgrades that would have made the house much more grand, but would have added a great deal to the cost (a cost which is financed, just like schools are) Large, open areas that are bricked and tiled on the interior may add to the visual appeal, but may not be the most cost effective.
I (and many other CyFair voters) have the same view about our Taj Mahal on Barker Cypress. The problem, as I see it, is that voters are presented with a single offer by the school district, usually through “key communications” that blanket PTOs and teachers. I would guess that most of the people who vote work for the district, based on the low voter turn-out.
Thanks for the discussion.
#13 digitaldon37
“I don’t think the Katy Watchdog group has any issues with investing in the school districts and with growth”
The facts tell a different story. In an open letter to the KISD Board of trustees and Dr. Merrell (superintendent) one of the cofounders of the Katy Watchdogs stated, “I think we need to give serious consideration in trying to reign in this growth that we are experiencing….A slow down in development would definitely curb the growth of this area”.
“To not look at the whole picture will cause a company to go bankrupt”
Katy ISD is looking at the whole picture. As I have shown in my previous post, contrary to the false claims of others, the district is in an excellent position to assume debt in order to accommodate the growth while maintaining existing schools.
“Mega-schools may be cost effective and comparable to other schools, but is that a good comparison?”
This appears to be a clever attempt to evade the original question. The Watchdogs excoriated Katy ISD claiming that the proposed new schools in Katy ISD cost more per square foot than neighboring districts. This is the comparison that they chose. When they have been confronted about their incorrect information and assumptions, they have either failed to respond or evaded the question as you have.
“Large, open areas that are bricked and tiled on the interior may add to the visual appeal, but may not be the most cost effective.”
Students are walking through these areas every day and they are source of pride for the community. These are expected to be heavy traffic areas and tile wears much better than carpet. These are buildings that are expected to last for decades so it makes sense to use appropriate tile for the job. We should upgrade where appropriate. Just because something appears cost effective does not make it desirable and it may not even be cost effective.
The Berry Center, whatever you want to call it, is a beautiful complex that will serve your district for decades to come. It can be used for school and non-school activities and should be a source of pride for your community.
Were the voters wrong to approve it? Maybe so. I do not know.
In our experience “key communications” were used by the anti-bond group in the most recent Katy ISD bond election. They wrote as many bad things about the district administration as they could. They worked to convince the voters that the district administration could do nothing right while saying that it was the teachers who had to be supported. They jumped on every semi-controversial move the district made and took the opposite position. They tried to convince every disgruntled parent or group that the most effective way to send the district a message was to vote against the bond. It is a clever way to win an election, but it does not do much for the community.
I am open to your continued comments.
#14 Tom,
If I may ask, are you associated with the KIDS organization or with KISD?
Don
I am not associated with KIDS and I am not associated with KISD. I am a concerned citizen.
Tom,
It’s easy to get lost in a blog discussion when the post (like this one) gets to be old. I don’t know if Katy Watchdogs have open comments, but you are always welcome to respond to anything I have on the CyFair site (cyfaircitizens.org) As I previously mentioned,
Tom,
It’s easy to get lost in a blog discussion when the post (like this one) gets to be old. I don’t know if Katy Watchdogs have open comments, but you are always welcome to respond to anything I have on the CyFair site (http://www.cyfaircitizens.org) As I previously mentioned, I’m trying to get an alternate voice out in CyFair. I don’t think the ISDs are always wrong, but I do think they are not always giving all the information to the citizens and sometimes work against them. Example, their stance on property cap reductions.
Or I’ll catch you on one of the other postings here at LST.
Great talking with you,
Don
Don,
The challenge for all of us is that the situation is complicated and does not lend itself to soundbites. I could tell you that Dr. Merrell (Katy ISD superintendent) is an outstanding superintendent and that he has some superb and talented people (scores of dedicated teachers, Dr. Clark, Mr. McElwain, Mr. Shadd and many others) to help him run the district. He also has a conscientious board who understands their role in not meddling excessively in district affairs. Unfortunately, this is not enough for many people. It is no longer enough for the board to hire a competent superintendent who will lead the district where it needs to go. It is not enough for the district to pat us on the head and tell us that they are doing the right thing (even if it is true and it is true in the case of Katy ISD on all significant matters). In order to properly defend the bond proposal the district is going to have to give us the numbers to prove that Katy ISD schools do not in fact cost more than other area schools. This is the truth, but we need to have the raw data. While I commend the Watchdogs for bringing school funding issues into the public consciousness some of their commentary reveals a lack of perspective into the challenges that the district faces every day. Here are two examples.
(1) The Watchdogs are criticizing the district for the way the bond committee is being facilitated. They say that the decisions have been made and that it is about control. Do we really expect the superintendent and his staff to not have a plan about how things should go? Isn’t this what we pay him the big bucks for? We need the educators to guide us. They know the subject. To expect that a group of citizens with little or no experience in running the district will be able to come up with a credible bond package with little or no guidance is just unreasonable. I have some experience with finance, but no experience in baseball operations. If the Houston Astros were owned by the public do you think I would be allowed to serve on a committee to determine how to run the organization without some sort of guidance (control?) from executives and staff in the organization? We also need ground rules and a means of establishing consensus or we will NEVER finish.
(2) The Watchdogs have been pushing for a bilingual program in every school that has bilingual students on the grounds that it is discriminatory to bus bilingual students out of their zones. Forgetting about the fact that students and teachers benefit when you have a dedicated team in one place, it is simply not practical from an economic perspective to do this. In many cases there are not enough students in one homeschool to fill a bilingual program. It makes no economic sense to dedicate a teacher at $40,000 per year to teach 5 students or less on one campus when you can pull from various campuses to bring the class size up.
We cannot argue for less revenue/taxation (i.e., property tax cap reductions) while insisting that our districts excel and adding more unrealistic (not to mention impractical) requirements to top it off (i.e., a bilingual program in every school). As I have pointed out repeatedly on this blog, government (whether it is schools, roads, prisons, law enforcement, HOAs or many others) costs money and its cost goes up as the cost for everything else does. If we do not raise the revenue through property taxes, then we are going to either have to find the revenue somewhere else (i.e., business taxes, sin taxes, income taxes) OR drastically cut services. There is waste (we are humans after all), but it is not as much as everyone likes to think. Everyone has an idea about what they want to cut (I think that big expensive stadiums are a prime candidate), but in almost all cases there is a constituency that violently disagrees with cutting that service. In my opinion, the solution is for people to cut down on their personal spending so that they can afford their taxes while being vigilant in regards to government spending with the caveat being that if you hire a decent superintendent to run your school district then you need to take his/her advice very seriously when thinking about whether to support your school bonds. We cannot expect our students to do well if we do not fund our schools.
Our legislators are in a tricky position. Some of us are clamoring for lower taxes (although we do very well compared to other states), while others appreciate the government services that we receive and do not want them stopped or reduced. This is why our legislators appear to speak out of both sides of their mouth. They do not represent only themselves. They represent all of us and we are in conflict even within ourselves.
I hope that you will share these thoughts with your friends in the Katy Watchdog group. I hope that they will consider moderating some of their positions. They say that they want an opportunity to support the next bond proposal.
The district should listen to the Watchdogs and address their concerns. By the same token, the Watchdogs need to listen to the legitimate needs of the district and consider them fairly. I sincerely hope that the community can work together to produce a bond proposal that the Watchdogs can support.