One of the goals that Edd Hendee has for CLOUT is for conservatives to become involved in local politics and drive change from the bottom up. And in terms of financial impact upon local property owners and quality of life for a community, no local political body is more important than your local school board.
Three members of CLOUT have teamed up in a bid to bring fiscal responsibility to the Katy ISD board in the upcoming May 10th election. They are Kameron Searle, Cynthia Blackman and Chris Sanders and have united under the slogan “Your Conservative Voice“.
We’ll see if we can find out more about their bids over the next couple of weeks but for now, you have to love these quotes:
“Scholastic performance is down in recent years and yet we are paying the highest school taxes in the state,” says Chris Sanders. “We do not believe that the taxpayers are getting their money’s worth and we want to do something about it.”
Cynthia Blackman said “we kept running into each other on the campaign trail and realized we all had the same basic goals.” Those goals include: cutting taxes, reducing the size of the District’s bureaucracy and improving security in the schools so children will be safe and can excel to their full potential.”
“With middle class families and small businesses threatened by a possible recession and home owners squeezed by the housing crises, the last thing Katy residents need is another tax hike,” says Searle.
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Great news for folks in Katy ISD. Support these candidates. That district is hauling in $$ hand over fist from the large subdivisions springing up along FM 1093 (Westheimer)toward Fulshear at the tag end of the Fort Bend Westpark Tollway. Property goes from Ag exempt to developer’s empty buildable lot to completed home in valuation. Most of the home buyers are unaware of the full impact of property taxes at closing since in many cases they reflect the unimproved lot value from the previous year. The following year however–shock and awe.
Same goes for all the development in the Lamar ISD in the same general area. We need a conservative group running for the school board in it. West FB County is exploding in development that is ruining the country atmosphere we enjoyed for years.
Where’s the disclaimer on who paid for this political advertisement? (i.e., on the sign?) I realize this isn’t a straight endorsement, but it does help get the word out about the trustee election at Klein. What’s LSTs position on the bond issue?
What about the Lone Star College System election - will will also impact Klein ISD residents?
Just curious.
DP,
There is no political advertising here. I saw something that interested me and wrote about it. Like I said above, don’t know them but will be curious to find out more about them.
The fact that they are CLOUT members and say so caught my eye because I’m a member too.
Not sure about the Klein election. You know anything about it? Any CLOUT members running?
Not sure about the Lone Star College election. You know anything about? Any CLOUT members running?
Promise, if I see something that indicates a fellow CLOUT member is running in any election, I’ll check it out.
This is GREAT news! (we ARE in KISD)
I don’t know of any school district who doesn’t put more emphasis on administration and in some cases, athletics than actually educating the student. Look at HISD who just recently gave its superintendent a bigger bonus than the teachers got and how many students did he teach anything. Look at the administration buildings and athletic stadiums the build while the schools fall apart. Anytime one deals with someone else’s money (aka the taxpayer’s money), you see the priorities in the wrong place. If it was there money or their company, you wouldn’t be seeing the waste that goes on. After all, they just need to pass a tax and hike and all their problems are solved.
It is way past time for some conservative voices in KISD to come forward. I recognize that the District needs to keep building schools for the burgeoning population, but, as Adee says, they are bringing in beaucoup bucks in taxes.
I’m behind them all the way.
BTW. I am a longtime KISD resident, both of my sons graduated from there.
It is interesting to see candidates in Texas running on a slate together. It is very common in the NY-NJ area, so common it is rare to see candidates for any legislative body not running on a slate of some kind. I wish them luck because Katy ISD has a history of take-no-prisoners politics.
Sounds great and I wish you all good luck with that, but are people going to get off their rear to go vote? I doubt it but I sure hope so!
Slight sidebar - for the first time I can ever recall - we saw a campaign sign in our ALLEY here yesterday as we drove to the store………..which is actually a GREAT idea as most of the resident’s comings n goings are via the alley……..
Katfish and BigJ, these are excellent signs of change. See the masses are awakening…. it may be slowly, but watch out! Voter turn out is a terrible problem. I can’t figure out how to moitvate the voter.
No such luck over in Humble ISD. 11 candidates for 2 contested seats plus a 245 mill bond…and it’s business as usual. The bond will pass, after all we’ve got to get on that deferred maintenance that was supposed to be taken care of by the ‘05 bond.
Despite appraisal bumps and robust growth of properties on the tax roll this bond will raise our taxes .08/100, any more would trigger a rollback election. So much for the lege and its bogus tax relief last session.
Don’t forget the LONE STAR COLLEGE SYSTEM DISTRICT, with 14 standing for 4 chairs plus a 420 mill bond.
I’m told the taxpayers provide lifetime medical coverage for board members after they’ve left.
60 mill is stated to be used at the Kingwood campus to build a 60,000-square-foot student and conference center to give students “space for student clubs, to hang out”.
Just came from a local club lunchtime dog & pony show, the candidates smiled and waved, said little of consequence.
Good luck to all
On behalf of Cynthia, Chris and myself, I would like to thank BigJolly and the Lone Star Times for the great write up. As a member of CLOUT and a strong conservative, I am glad to read so many supportive comments.
As the article states, Edd Hendee has been encouraging conservatives to get involved in local races for years. This year we can make a change if conservatives will go out and vote. Only about 3% of registered voters vote in the Katy ISD School Board elections. It only takes about 2000 votes for someone to get elected to the KISD school board. If about 600 extra CLOUT members show up to vote, we can change the Katy School Board and move it in a direction of fiscal responsibility.
Tom Law is a CLOUT member and he is the only conservative on the KISD School Board right now. He gets outvoted 6-1 on all spending issues. If we elect conservatives to the three positions up for election this time, we can stop wasting money on ridiculous Taj Mahal projects and bloated bureaucracy and try and do something about improving safety and reducing crime in the Katy schools.
#4 BigJolly Says:
Not sure about the Klein election. You know anything about it? Any CLOUT members running?
**** I do not live in the Klein ISD jurisdiction, so I don’t follow all that goes on within school district. The fact that they are asking for a huge bond referendum at the same time that Lone Star College is also asking for money just caught my attention = especially since no one seems to connect how the two will impact that particular community. ****
“Not sure about the Lone Star College election. You know anything about? Any CLOUT members running?”
I don’t know who or who may not be a member of CLOUT that may be running for a trustee position at LSCS. I do know that LST supported a current candidate back in 2006, when Lone Star was known as North Harris Montgomery Community College District. Whether or not that rapport is still viable, I have no idea. I do know that there are conservatives that running in the current election, but I don’t see that they’ve been particularly vocal - yet. There was a slate of conservatives on that trustee election, so the Klein trio is not exactly new in that regard. Only one of that group got elected. Hopefully that will change in 2008.
What I can tell you is that the quarter million dollar bond referendum that failed in 2006 has grown to nearly a half billion dollar bond proposal. What was rejected then is still questionable now, and if you want to see a detail of what the hand-selected 80-member bond committee members came up with this time…. well..
let me know and I’ll send you a copy.
They used a good sign printer for sure
Conservative voice Says:
April 16th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
They used a good sign printer for sure
Really? Who?
Muahahaha! Seriously. LOL
I’m getting confused by Klein and Katy here. Are they both KISD?
If you are concerned about Klein, you might be interested in this tidbit.
The following is an important message from Klein Oak administration for all
students that will be attending Klein Oak in the Fall 2008 ~ In the fall of 2008, all klein Oak students will be issued a tablet PC. Students will be required to purchase or place a deposit for their tablet. The tablets will be an educational tool that all students will be expected to utilize
throughtout the school day and at home. Meetings have been scheduled in April and May with more meetings planned for late summer. All parents are required to attend one of these meetings. The next meeting is Tuesday, April 15h at 6:30 pm in Klein Oak Commons. A meeting is also planned for May 8th. Payments for insurance or deposit will be accepted at this time.
http://www.TexasGOPstore.com same guys who did Dan Patrick, Alan Fletcher, Pat Lykos, Ed Emmett and a bunch more Republican signs across the area.
I’m a bit confused too AW. Deep, I don’t think Klein is in Katy ISD. Right?
Yeah, I’m interested, send me your stuff, you can click on my name for the contact link.
BigJolly Says:
I’m a bit confused too AW. Deep, I don’t think Klein is in Katy ISD. Right?
Right!
Yeah, I’m interested, send me your stuff, you can click on my name for the contact link.
You betcha! Gotta dig through my junk. ;=)
DP
BJ: I did mean to say that the 2006 NHMCCD bond proposal was a quater Billion $ - not million. Still a half billion now proposed through a new chancellor is rather still unwarranted.
Cadent Waterfalls
A thousand cadent waterfalls
Grace the Valley of the Kings
Misty rainbows greet the moonlit dawn
And all of nature sings
The scent of light pervades the air
Where the verdant valley rings
With the sounds of jubilation
As the phoenix takes to wing
A thousand cadent waterfalls
Crash with thunder towards the sea
With a power and a rhythm
Echoing through eternity
The perfect crystal alignment
Of translucent prisms diffuse
The star shine from the heavens
Into a million vibrant hues
A thousand cadent waterfalls
Evolved from mountain springs
Give proof that hope exists
In the Valley of the Kings
original poem by DeepPurple
April 14, 2003
Lone Star College System District
link to map of included school dists at:
http://www.lonestar.edu/7557/
LSCSD (recently rebranded at something over $300k cost)states growing enrollment is driver for the almost half billion borrowing. I don’t have numbers of increases in campus based clients vs distance learners and concurrent credit high schoolers who DO NOT regularly attend a campus. If the remote student population is growing faster than campus based clients we do not need major campus expansions. Does anyone have those numbers?
As to candidates, Stephanie Marquard has occupied P3 for 12 years, presiding over the ‘06 bond debacle and never seeing a spending/tax increase she didn’t like. Take a good look at Fred Blanton for P3, he’s expressed interesting takes on marketing the district and combining efforts with other entities to better use the resources we’ve got.
Priscilla Kelly, P9, is a career educrat with the Klein district, which coincidentally wants big bond borrowings as well. Of the challengers I’ve met Gail Stanart and plan to speak with her at length, the others did not show at the meet & greet I attended.
John Fox, P4, is stepping out. Of the contenders Robert Adam,is unimpressive, at least in a group setting. I have not seen Terry Morton.
Alan Quintero, P6, has substantive business/technical bachground. Challenger Jason Roper has financial svc and political experience in his resume,and states he wants reduced appraisal caps. We know the college dist doesn’t do appraisals but don’t know if this desire for caps translates to revenue neutral budgeting or not, will ask him about that. I’ve not seen Bob Wolfe.
If you view the district website, you’ll not find much info on the incumbent trustees, just name, position, residence and business affiliation.
That’s all this contribution (hope this is viewed as contributing to the discussion). Most hopefuls have some web presence, you’ll have to hunt for ‘em, but it’s worth your time and effort, otherwise the thieves and scoundrels whip us again.
Hell, let’s at least boost the usually dismal dist voting numbers! They want half a billion bucks, don’t our neighbors give a damn?
Best
Katy ISD has been well run for years and people who understand that will support the incumbents.
This trio claim to be our “conservative voice”, but the only thing they seem to be trying to conserve is the fantasy that Katy ISD can be a better school district while having less funding than it currently has.
It does not matter that more homes are being built because those homes usually have owners with 2 children or more and it costs about $6000-$8000 a year to educate students in Texas public schools. If that figure is too high for you, then get the laws changed so that school districts will have to do less.
Maybe we could just have school districts educate students for half a day. We could cut out all the electives and sports. The students would be the responsibility of their parents for the rest of the day. Think about it. We would only need half the buildings and half the staff. We would not have to provide for a lunch period. Anyone for that idea? I put the idea forward for your consideration since these “conservatives” have offered no ideas for how to reduce spending.
They whine about portable buildings which are necessary to be fiscally responsible and yet they want to reduce spending. They say they want to reduce bureaucracy, but there really isn’t the kind of money that they want to cut in bureaucracy. Besides if you do not have some semblance of a bureaucracy who will ensure that Katy ISD does not run afoul of state law and what about test scores which are reality whether we like it or not?
They claim they want to hire more teachers and support teachers more, but they want to reduce spending. They say they want to improve security, but they want to reduce spending.
Tom Law has done nothing for the citizens of Katy ISD. He has used every possible controversy from rezoning to a recent flap over the ADA law to try to divide the community.
They want to cut spending, but they have continually failed to tell the public just exactly what KISD services they would cut. These folks want us to believe that 2-1 = 3, but my public school education taught me better.
The people of Katy ISD need to vote for the incumbents in this election who have shown that they know how to responsibly run a school district.
tom pogo,
How much debt does KISD have? And how much is that per household? Per taxpayer?
Fiscally responsible?
You gotta be kidding me.
Some Facts:
The TEA ranks individual schools and whole school districts in Texas as:
Exemplary
Recognized
Academically Acceptable or
Academically Unacceptable
“Exemplary” is the best and “Academically Unaceptable” is the worst.
Last year, Katy ISD fell from “Recognized” to merely “Academically Acceptable.” At the same time, Katy ISD taxpayers are paying the highest school property taxes in the State of Texas. I don’t think we’re getting our money’s worth.
Kameron,
Katy ISD is fiscally responsible and we are getting our money’s worth contrary to your charges. KISD has a higher tax rate than other districts because of the debt that it has had to incur to accomodate its fast growth rate.
As for the drop from “recognized” to “academically acceptable” you neglected to take into account the fact that standards have been raised and that it becomes increasingly more of a challenge to maintain a “recognized” rating as a district grows.
I can excuse BigJolly’s misreading of the facts, but I hold you to a higher standard since you are running for the school board.
You and your “conservative” friends claim that you want to improve security, attract more good teachers, get students out of temporary buildings and raise academic achievement while reducing spending in KISD.
Cutting bureaucracy will not save much money and will make it more difficult to maintain standards that are required by the state, not to mention raising academic achievement.
Please get the facts right.
Two minus one does not equal three.
What do you and your friends plan to cut if you are elected to the school board?
The last question should have read more precisely:
What KISD services do you and your friends plan to eliminate if you are elected to the school board so that you can reduce spending?
Mr. Pogo,
Please enlighten me - what facts did I misread?
Thank you in advance.
Mr. Pogo
Each year the KISD administration discovers we have money left over from our do or die bonds. One year they called it “Stretched” dollars. Next time they called it ‘Miracle Money”. The extra money from these un-itemized bonds should belong to the taxpayer. In Katy, it goes to the contractor’s hope chest. Mr. Pogo, our taxes in Katy are high because we spend too much. We have the highest Tax Rate in Texas.
We the tax payer can no longer afford 100 million dollar sports centers and $600,000 “hot dog stands” We are tired of no bid contracts that build the most expensive schools in Texas. We are insulted by the naming of vanity monuments to employees and living bureaucrats. We are tired of our academic ratings dropping. We are also very concerned about the ever-increasing crime and assaults in schools.
We do want more money for teachers. We do want more tax dollars to stay in the classroom. We demand our elected officials to be receptive to the taxpayer. We do not understand why KISD board members resist openness and transparency in government. We are the only school district in Texas to require three board members to bring an issue to the public.
Mr. Pogo, what are they hiding?
Big Jolly,
You incorrectly assumed that Katy ISD must be fiscally irresponsible since it has a higher debt per household and higher debt per student than some other districts. KISD has had to take on a higher debt per household than some other districts because of its rapid growth rate and this is the fiscally responsible thing to do given the circumstances.
Mr. Muller,
If KISD is able to complete certain bond projects for less than the cost estimated when the bonds were passed, it is because of tight project controls, anticipation of dips in the construction market and price breaks derived from being able to bid projects together. This is what we call sound fiscal management.
When KISD is able to save on bond projects, the remaining bond funds can be spent the discretion of the Board. In previous years these funds (dubbed “undesignated funds”) have been used to replace leaky roofs, do mold remediation, and overhaul the finance system as well as other appropriate projects. While it would be an option for the board to forgo the selling of the excess bonds, this would be fiscally irresponsible because the public would have to pay for an additional bond election and the needed repairs would be delayed. In KISD our taxes are high because we have a rapidly growing school district and we must spend the money if we are going to maintain our existing schools (teachers and buildings) while building new ones, never mind maintaining some semblance of excellence.
Your “$600,000 hot dog stands” comment is grossly misleading and you have never offered any evidence for your group’s claim in the November 2006 bond election that you could build the “hot dog stand” for less than half the cost. Do you understand that these structures must be ADA compliant? Do you want to shut down the KISD baseball program? Please enlighten us.
None of the school contracts that have been let are no bid contracts and KISD does not build the most expensive schools in Texas. The public should be insulted that you and your group continue to spread misinformation despite being corrected in numerous fora.
If you want to have any hope of raising our academic ratings, then cutting spending as your “conservative” friends want to do is not going to help the matter. How are you going to give more money to teachers, put more money in the classroom, reduce assaults and raise academic achievement while reducing the funds available to accomplish these goals? Two minus one does not equal three. Please explain your plan.
There is openness and transparency in KISD. We have open board meetings. We have open work study meetings. We have an open check register. We do not waste time on matters over which we have not control. What exactly do you want?
You and your trio of friends want to cut spending in KISD, but you have yet to tell us what you want to cut. Do you believe that public schools should be funded with tax money? What ideas are you and your “conservative” friends hiding?
Mr. Pogo,
You continue to blame high growth for the debt load the district has taken on. That is just nonsense. There are other districts with the same or even higher growth that have approached their budget responsibly and do not have the kind of debt that your district has. Of course, they also do not have state of the art recreation facilities.
Matters not to me. I don’t live in that district. If you want to break the backs of taxpayers so you can feel good while looking at marbled Taj Mahal buildings and they aren’t interested enough to get out and vote to stop you, that’s their problem to deal with later.
Cheers.
Big Jolly,
I live in Katy ISD so getting the truth out matters to me. The fact is that high growth does impact debt load and it is nonsense to maintain otherwise.
Here is a link that tells some of the story.
http://www.brb.state.tx.us/pub/lgs/fy2006/ISD06highDS.xls
KISD is one of the 34 Texas districts with high debt on this list. Many are in metropolitan areas. You can see that the debt per student in KISD is near the average for this list while both the raw numbers and the percentage of growth in student population in KISD are well above the average. The story is more complicated than any slogan that Mr. Muller, you or I can put together, but I would venture to guess that if you look at KISD and any other district carefully, the differences come down to a matter of the old adage that “you get what you pay for”.
What is wrong with having decent facilities? They are not the most expensive in Texas. Mr. Muller and his “conservative” friends running for the board want to spend less on public education in Katy ISD, but they will not tell us what they want to cut and the overwhelming amount of money is spent on teachers.
Mr. Muller and his friends seem to think that KISD can renovate baseball facilities on the cheap without worrying about ADA regulations, but they are wrong. Do they want to shut down athletics in KISD to save money? They say they want to improve many things in KISD, but they want to reduce spending. Their math is fuzzy. Do they even support funding public education with taxes?
If the people of KISD want decent schools and decent facilities then they should vote for the incumbents in this school board election because the incumbents have shown that they can deliver good schools in a responsible manner.
Cheers.
Mr. Pogo,
Like I said, if the taxpayers of that district are too lazy to vote big spenders out of office, they deserve what they get.
Your own data linked above shows that Katy ISD has the highest tax rate in the state - tied with one other district (although Spring ISD is nipping on your heels).
Your data shows that you have more debt per capita than any other district in the area.
So you can pretend that you are being fiscally responsible - but pretending doesn’t make it so.
BigJolly,
Once again you are misreading facts provided by the Bond Review Board data which belongs to all of us. The facts show that Katy ISD does not have as much wealth per student as many districts meaning that a tax rate of x% will bring in less tax revenue in KISD than a tax rate of x% in many other districts. This fact along with the rapid growth rate can also explain the higher debt per capita. As I have said the higher tax rate is in part a result of the growth. You seem dead set on concluding that Katy ISD is fiscally irresponsible no matter what the facts show. Could you please try to be objective?
If the taxpayers in Katy ISD vote in this “conservative” group, then they better be prepared for major cuts that will severely affect the quality of the district in a negative way. These folks do not even know how to fairly interpret the TEA accountability rankings.
Taxpayers who are informed will do the smart thing and vote for the incumbents who have demonstrated competence in responsibly running KISD.
Mr. Pogo,
Once again, I would ask you to show me where and how I am misreading the facts.
The facts are as I stated. You have the highest tax rate in Texas. Period. I cannot and have not mistated that.
You have more debt per captia than any school district in your geographical area. Period.
Have you ever thought about putting more emphasis in Katy on instruction?
You say that others “misread” the TEA rankings. After listening to your excuses for “nice” (read marble tiled) facilities, I seriously question your ability to present the TEA rankings in a fair manner.
As I said, I don’t live in your district and your citizens deserve every bit of the extra taxes they pay because they are apathetic and uninterested.
My concern is when people like you call themselves conservatives, then spend out the wahzoo because they schedule elections when the fewest possible voters will vote, giving them a leg up in the process.
Hey Jolly
Ya just can’t argue with this type of reasoning.
I mean gawduhhhh forbid that a district quits throwing money at more taj mahals.
Mr. Pogo a district can provide quality educations sans the bells and whistles.
BigJolly,
You are misreading the facts. Here is how.
Katy ISD has a high tax rate and Katy ISD has a high debt per capita, but that does not prove your conclusion that Katy ISD is spending too much or that it is fiscally irresponsible.
Here is why. Katy ISD does not have a high tax base per student compared with other districts in Texas. To take a hypothetical example if school district A has a tax base of $100 per student and school district B has a tax base of $200 per student; then school district A and school district B may have the same tax rate, but school district B would collect twice as much tax revenue per student as school district A. To put it another way if school district B levied a tax of 1%, then school district A would have to levy a tax of 2% to be able to raise the same amount of funds per student. If school district A was a rapidly growing district, then it would also need to raise the debt service rate to build new schools to accommodate the growth.
Demagogues or misinformed people could say, “school district A has double the tax rate of school district B” or “school district A has the highest tax rate in the state so school district A is fiscally irresponsible”. However, this would be a grave misreading of the facts.
So your simple statement of facts grossly oversimplifies a complicated situation.
Katy puts plenty of emphasis on instruction, but surely you will agree that instruction would suffer severely if there were a lack of safe school buildings due to under funding of the public school system.
I think that I have presented everything here in a fair manner unlike others. If you or anyone can provide facts to refute what I wrote about Kameron’s misleading statements concerning the TEA rankings, then I would be happy to consider your arguments. Until then, Kameron has some explaining to do if he cares to show that he knows something about being on a school board.
I do not know exactly what you believe, but you would have a more consistent argument if you started with the premise that taxpayers should not have to fund public schools rather than misreading the facts to try to falsely show that some public schools are fiscally irresponsible.
Unlike you I live in KISD and I have witnessed the misleading statements made by people who want to cut public school spending, but won’t tell us what services they plan to cut. I have seen how damage is done with one misleading sentence in print or on radio that takes two paragraphs to correct if it is ever corrected. I hope that the people of KISD have the wisdom to see through the misinformation and reelect the incumbents who have shown that they can competently manage KISD.
Tom Pogo
Cowards can always hide behind pseudonyms and call other liars. This is a big problem in Katy. In my opinion, ill-gotten gains can risk the education of our children. The outright arrogance of our school board has divided our community. Teacher’s morale is at an all time low. The fact is our academic rating has dropped. The fact is we have the highest tax rate in Texas. The fact is KISD has consistently over priced the school bonds. The fact is the board refuses to itemize the issues on the bond. We have the most expensive school buildings and heated swimming pools in Texas. We have $600,000 “Hot Dog” stands. The fact is the Texas Ethics Commission sanctioned the PAC that organized the support of the last bond. The fact is, even if the money comes from the local property tax or the State, it is still our money. Most of our school board members no longer have children in the school district. I believe some have been on the board 20 years. We need change.
Mr. Muller,
Demagogues like yourself can hide behind misinformation and continually refuse to answer the questions posed to them. I do not need to know your name. Just tell the truth and answer the questions. Reasonable people should review the information presented and draw their own conclusions. For you to suggest that those who do not use their own names are cowards is piffle. If that is the best argument that you have then you have no argument.
It is you and your group who are trying to divide our community by spreading misinformation about KISD. Teacher’s morale is going to get much lower if your “conservative” friends take over the school board and start slashing funding for public schools in KISD. Slashing funding is their first priority. The fact is our academic rating has dropped in the face of increasing standards and new challenges and cutting spending for public schools will make it worse. The fact is we have a high tax rate in KISD because we have high growth combined with a modest tax base.
The fact is KISD has consistently done an excellent job of managing the bond projects leading to cost savings so that bond funds could be used for other needed projects like mold remediation, roof replacements and the purchasing of a new finance system. The fact is your group wants to itemize the issues on the bond in the hopes of dividing the community further whether it is north versus south, new facilities versus existing facilities, athletics versus academics, faith-based matters, ADA matters, rezoning matters or any wedge issue that you can find to divide people so that you can take over the district and cut spending on education in KISD. Despite all the misinformation that you and your group have spread over the last two and a half years KISD does not have the most expensive school buildings and heated swimming pools in Texas. The $600,000 “Hot Dog” stands that you distort are actually an ADA requirement if KISD wants to play baseball. The fact is that you have never, ever backed up your group’s apparently false statement that this work could have been done for less than half the price.
We do not need some “conservative” group who says they want to cut spending, but refuses to say exactly what they are going to cut. We do not need people who have personal agendas on the school board. We do not need people bent on enacting some unknown agenda.
We need school board members that do not have an axe to grind. We need school board members who will make student achievement their first priority. We need to reelect the incumbents who have shown that they know how to put student achievement first.
Mr. Pogo
You keep saying Taxpayers need to be informed to do the smart thing and vote for the incumbents who have demonstrated competence in responsibly running KISD. How Has the six incumbents demonstrated competence in responsibly running Katy isd? You say we need school board members who will make student achievement their first priority. How are you doing that? You say we do not need people who have personal agendas on the school board. That is where the bureaucracy is. The 6 incumbents do not care what the public has to say. They do not listen to the public.
We do not need schools that are so big you can fit (4) 2 story houses in side.
We need the conservative voice group as you call us in so that we can:
* Slash taxes
* Reduce bureaucracy
* Keep our children safe
* Provide openness and transparency
In the reduction of the bureaucratic hierarchy tax dollars will be saved. Those saved dollars can be spent in our classrooms, enabling our children and their instructors.
In addressing the safety in our schools, we not only assist the student body, teachers and administrators, but also the community at large. As KISD grows, so do the safety concerns on our schools’ campuses. Crime statistics are growing at all campus levels. There continues to be a growing need for a team-force to response in the event of a crisis situation. http://www.katyisdschoolboard.com
Mr. Pogo
We have called for town hall meetings with Mr. Duhon (KISD School Board President) to discuss our serious financial situation in KISD. Prominent Taxpayers have asked to meet with Mr. Duhon to help give him direction on how to save money. Our “Watchdog” group have asked numerous times to meet and discuss where savings can be found. He has chosen an arrogant path of an ostrich. Duhon who once believed in term limits, now has decided to break his own philosophy. The Katy Citizens Watchdogs would be more than happy to meet with any school board member to disscuss fiscal restraint.
We have one member on the school board (Tom Law) that would like to bring this issue to the public. However, KISD is one of only two school districts in Texas to require three school trustees to place an issue on the agenda. This happened when C.L.O.U.T member Mr. Law was elected. Thanks to the liberal incumbents, Duhon, Snyder, and Crockett, the one conservative Mr. Law has been silenced.
Cutting open ended technology contracts, HD televisions in each classrooms, credit cards to administrators, junkets to Florida, San Antonio, California and Golf games at Horseshoe Bay would be a symbolic gesture to the taxpayer. Mr. Pogo, what did you spend on your last hotel room? Was it over $400 a night? Do you care if our board spent your money at a resort? Call me Mr. Pogo, I will meet you any time to explain how to save money, and increase the teacher’s salaries at the same time. We need change in KISD. In KISD our taxes are up, crime is up, teachers are quitting, and academics are down. We need Trustee’s that actually have children attending school in the district, and can see first hand our problems. Twenty-year incumbents are just wrong. We need change now more than ever.
Kameron,
In the last ten years KISD student enrollment has grown from just over 28,000 to over 50,000 representing about an 80% increase in enrollment. The incumbents have played a part in supporting an environment that allowed KISD to prudently plan for this growth resulting in the achievement of “recognized” status for 8 out of ten years despite the increasing challenges of a growing student population. KISD has respectable bond ratings from Moodys and Standard and Poors reflecting sound financial management in the midst of the many challenges of growth.
On what do you base your charge that the incumbents do not care what the public has to say (Mr. Law’s pandering in order to try to gain votes and discontents for the board election does not count)? The Board makes provisions to have committees to study various issues (bond committee, rezoning committees, etc.). They listen to the input. They receive input from the public in the form of public hearings and the forums at each board meeting. Then they make a decision in the best interest of the community. What more do they need to do to show that they care? Are you upset because some decision did not go your way?
We need large schools to properly accommodate students and teachers. The capacity figures on the most recent schools built are about 1000 for elementaries, 1400 for junior highs and 3000 for high schools. Building smaller schools might be better from an educational standpoint, but the incumbents recognize that we need to face the economic realities by building large schools so that we do not have as many principals to hire or as many campuses to maintain. We cannot afford smaller schools.
You say that you want to slash taxes, reduce bureaucracy, keep our children safe and provide openness and transparency (which we already have-see second paragraph). Have you given up on improving academic achievement due to the bureaucracy and money involved? Specifically what “bureaucracy” would you cut and how much savings would result? How much would said savings reduce my tax bill? How do you propose to “keep our children safe”. How much will it cost? How are you going to fund it while cutting spending so that you can slash taxes? You say that you want to cut bureaucracy to save money so that you can put it into the classroom and increase security for all while slashing taxes, but your rhetoric does not add up!
Two minus one does not equal three.
We need to reelect the incumbents as they have demonstrated the ability and the willingness to lead KISD through numerous challenges in a fiscally responsible fashion.
Mr T.Pogo,
You sound just like one of the incumbents. I wonder which one you are.
The first and formost item that needs/will be addressed is a pay raise for teachers! Something that should have happed along time ago!
Hit the road buddy…….you’re on the way out!
“Conservative Trio” in!!
RKHS,
You might think that I am one of the incumbents because I know the facts and I know what they mean. However, I am not one of the incumbents. I am just a concerned citizen who wants the best for the people of KISD. I pay attention to what is going on so that I will not fall prey to the misinformation spread by this “conservative” trio and their “watchdog” friends.
How do think this “conservative” trio is going to give teachers a pay raise while cutting spending? They won’t even tell us what they plan to cut (even if the unsupported information about “junkets” and expensive hotel rooms is true-how do we even know that this was taxpayer funded anyway?, this does not add up to enough money to increase any teacher’s salary). They say something about cutting bureaucracy, but what are they going to do? Eliminate principals? Will the already overburdened teachers be stuck with discipline too. Oh well, the classrooms might be a wreck since the teachers will have absolutely no administrative support, but at least they will get more money right? No wait, we all want a tax cut, so there is no way we will be able to afford increasing teacher pay. We have been told that tax cuts are more important than supporting our public schools. What about the “bureaucrats” who have worked so hard to ensure that KISD students have the support to continue to achieve academically (KISD’s 2007 TAKS scores were actually up from 2006, but the state accountability rating went down, because the state changed the standards-Hey Kameron- what if your law firm told you that you had to win 80% of your legal cases to achieve “recognized” status one year and you achieved an 81% success rate, then the next year you win 83% of your cases, but you are only rated as “acceptable” because your firm had raised the standard for “recognized” to 85% of cases won-would you feel like you had failed in your job? Do you think your clients would conclude that you were a bad lawyer?-This is exactly what you are saying about KISD students, parents, teachers, administrators and board members when you misrepresent the import of KISD’s state accountability rating). The bureaucrats will have to go if this trio is elected and the test scores will definitely sag as a result.
Be smart KISD voters. This “conservative” has demonstrated that they do not possess the necessary knowledge to navigate the complexities of overseeing a school district. Ignore the misinformation and vote for the incumbents who have shown that they understand the challenges ahead.
Pogo
I do not have a firm. I am self employed. We do not guarantee dismissals on traffic ticket cases. We do not go by % of cases won or lost. It’s different in my line of work.
I think I know who you are. You were at the fish fry weren’t you? If you are who I think you are, Why didn’t you ask questions then? Why put people down? You must have nothing else to do. What line of work do you do?
Why don’t you stop and let the voters decide what is best for KISD not you.
Kameron,
My intention was never to put you down in any personal way and I apologize. I am passionate about these issues and it concerns me deeply when information is misused or misinterpreted.
You seem to misunderstand the TAKS scores. KISD’s overall pass rate actually went up from 2006 to 2007, but the state’s scoring system changed. Your comments imply that KISD is not using our money wisely to educate KISD students, but the facts simply do not support that conclusion in the matter of TAKS test scores.
There are many good people in KISD who have given their all every day for many years to help ensure that students have the best opportunities to learn and inaccurate comments about accountability scores denigrate their efforts.
I have never met you, but I wish you well. I am asking you to study the issues more carefully before deciding on a position.
This decision is up to the voters and I have never said otherwise.
Mr. T Pogo,
It shouldn’t surprise me that you are not supportive of giving our “overburdened” teachers a pay increase. That is exactly why they desrerve a pay raise…because they are “overburdened”. This whole thing is about the CHILDREN!! It’s not about Sports Complexes OR keeping up with the Jones’.
I’m not a mathematition, but even I can calculate where the monies for principles, assistant principles and teacher pay increases could come from.
Are you aware that OKE can not even hire an assistant principle because KISD has a hiring freeze due to a deficit that is in the Millions?
It’s not just the “junkets and expensive hotel rooms” (and believe me…they are taxpayer funded), it’s the overall KISD Board approval of over expenditure of new schools (among other things).
Beckendorf $20 Million
WoodCreek $30 Million
Hotdog Stand $600 K
If KISD would have spent just $25 Million (or less)on WoodCreek….there’s your $5 Million, for principles, teachers, councelors, administrative support, SECURITY, etc…for the next ten years.
To use your analogy, how is not hiring an assistant principle going to help a mutimillion dollar deficit?
I’ve had enough.
I’m going to go vote!
RKHS,
Please do not twist my words by saying that I am against giving teachers a pay raise. This group wants to reduce spending. They cannot find enough money for pay raises for teachers if they are committed to reducing revenues as they say they are. You need buildings and it makes no sense to mortgage the future by building cheap and inferior buildings which will cost more to maintain in the long run. Refusing to build a stadium will not bring in more money either.
You are right. There is no way that we will see cost cuts significant enough to reduce tax rates like these so-called conservatives insist unless we cut big ticket items. Cutting a million dollars here or a million dollars there is not going to get it. Cutting early reading intervention programs as suggested by one of these candidates is not going to be enough and it will negatively affect the education offered to KISD students. I merely suggested cutting principals because this “conservative” trio has not told us anything significant about what they want to cut. Rest assured I fully support the work of the students, parents, teachers, administrators and board members in KISD. I also support informed taxpayers who are willing to look carefully at the facts rather than jump to conclusions based on misinformation.
Do they want to stop building stadiums? Okay. Maybe I could support that, but what are the alternatives to building stadiums and why aren’t they telling the public that they plan to cut stadiums? As far as schools go KISD is not being irresponsible in building high quality schools that will wear well with time. You get what you pay for. Does your “conservative” team want to build inferior schools that do not hold up as well so that we can have lower taxes in the short run and deteriorating schools in the long run? Again we do not know because they will not say.
The “$600K hot dog stand” renovation iss due to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Do you really want to shut down KISD athletics? Could you have the honesty to just say so rather using the same tired old long-refuted arguments?
At least one of these candidates wants to reduce the salary of the superintendent who they all seem to admit is doing a good job. Do they think that he will stay long if they show how little they value his leadership by reducing his salary? Who will they hire to replace him? How much will my taxes be reduced by such a ridiculously short sighted move?
Maybe you had not heard, but crime rate in KISD has actually gone down while the district has grown so this is just more scare tactics from this group. TAKS pass rates in KISD were actually higher in 2007 than 2006, but this group is either purposely ignoring the facts or grossly misinformed. Neither is good.
This group wants to sell us on the fantasy that two minus one equals three, but their math is really fuzzy.
I’m going to vote too. We need to preserve what we have in KISD by re-electing the incumbents who have shown that they know the issues and they know how to be fiscally responsible without being cheap or shortsighted.
Tom Pogo: Thank you for speaking so articulately and for being so well-informed, in contrast to many here who simplistically equate the word “tax” with sqandering public money. Taxes pay for essential services that serve the common good, and you get what you pay for. I’m a Katy ISD English teacher who will teach six classes instead of five next year because of budget constraints. If those classes fill at 30 each, I could have 180 students. Many teachers in the district are teaching over 150. That’s educational malpractice. There is little chance of adequately teaching time consuming skills like writing under such conditions. If I spend 10 minutes a week grading papers and providing feedback for 150 students, that’s 25 hours a week that does not exist in the school day already filled with preparation, paperwork, and assigned duties. Do those who want to slash taxes want me to spend less than 10 minutes a week assessing and learning the needs of their child?
My increasing numbers are the direct result of Katy’s budget constraints. These candidates claim to support teachers and think they can find money for a payraise when we can’t even provide enough teachers for our increasingly crowded classrooms! This cannot be resolved by shedding a few over-paid administrators, if such exist. These candidates are at best disingenuous, at worst dangerously ignorant and derive their unrealistic positions from ideology, not facts. To present teachers as innocent victims of the big, bad, powerful, fat-cat beaurocracy is politics at its worst. I resent being used or thought stupid enough to believe such clap-trap.
I won’t vote for people who don’t rationally examine the evidence or consider the consequences of tax cuts, no matter what the particular circumstances, who reduce any complex issue to simple descriptors of good guy/bad guy. Sadly, all too many people will vote for this slate of candidates simply because they wear the badge of tax-cutting conservative. In my opinion, such voters care more for economic self-interest than what is best for the children of our district.