I am voting today.

It will be interesting to see just how many folks vote in this election. The total will be sad (<5%)is my guess. When will the school elections be made to the same time as regular voting? Who pays for the school board elections? The school board, meaning taxpayers? Interesting waste of money if elections could be consolidated.

It would be nice if they could actually accomplish what they want to accomplish, but it’s unlikely.

Even Dan acknowledged that he has little power/influence in Austin, and at these local levels it’s even more corrupt.

#2 Yes, but Dan is 1 of 31 Senators. This instance involves 3 of 7 school board positions. Hopefully the board isn’t so locked down that they can’t manage the one swing vote for conservative principles.

But I like paying high taxes and the elections that are rigged to reelect incompetent tax-and-spend cronies! Sheesh.

I don’t live in the Katy ISD area, but I DID go vote against the Lone Star College System bond.

Get out and vote! You know the “Administration” can drag out a lot of voters (faculty, staff, vendors, spouses, etc.) so the “people” really have to get out (and take several friends, kids over 18, etc. with you)!

I hope someone is going to change the “voting rules” so that schools can’t just conveniently locate polling places at schools (where parents and teachers who have a vested interest would be) thus disenfranchising a large portion of taxpayers who don’t have kids in school.

#7 - Not to mention they have them on odd days to further impede outside voters. Why do you think school boards fervently resist any attempts to hold board and bond elections at the same time as general elections? It’s a fixed game.

Are these the same three that Katy Watchdogs have endorsed…. if so make sure you support them….

There have been no attempts on the part of KISD to make it difficult for people to vote in this election. The polls were open for early voting from April 28-May6 from 7am to 6 pm, including Saturday and people could vote at any location regardless of the precinct in which they live.

The tax rate in KISD compares quite favorably to other districts when the tax base per student, the rapid growth and the sustained academic achievement are considered.

KISD students actually did better on the TAKS test in 2007 compared to 2006; but the state changed the standards from one year to the next making it more difficult to achieve “recognized” status. Suppose that you made a 90 on a test one year and received and A for your efforts. Then the next year you mastered more of the material and made a 91 only to be told that you had earned a B because a 92 was now the standard to make an A. Would it be fair to conclude that you had not done as well as the previous year.

The crime rate in KISD is down despite the rapid growth.

Nevertheless this group of candidates continues to misstate the facts.

Are they just misinformed or are they deliberately trying to mislead? I do not know.

Either way, it would not be prudent to elect this group to the school board as they appear to know little about school finance, state accountability ratings and school crime stats.

I plan to vote for Crockett, Duhon and Snyder. They have shown that they know how to be effective board members. They have shown that they have a grasp of the issues at hand and the challenges facing KISD.

The incumbent KISD board members like to compare KISD to Ft.Bend or Spring Branch, since they are close, but we all know those school districts are not like Katy ISD. Perhaps voters should look at a school district in Texas that has always been Katy’s arch rival. That would be Plano ISD which is a suburban school district by Dallas.

Plano has 52,753 students/Katy has 50,725. On the TAKS Plano had 88% of all grades passing all tests taken, while Katy had 83%.

Plano has 6,608 total employees, while Katy has 6,505. Plano has 3,855 teachers, while Katy has 3,421. Plano has 58% of its total staff in teachers, while Katy has 53%. Katy has 29% of its total staff in “auxiliary” staff, while Plano has 17% in that category.

The average administrative salary in Plano is $85,045 while in Katy it is $96,849. The average school administrative salary in Plano is $71,168 while in Katy it is $74,453. The average teacher salary in Plano is $46,945 and in Katy it is $47,646. The number of teachers with advanced degrees in Plano is 34.4% while in Katy it is 22.9%. Plano places 10% of the students in the GT program and spends 3% of the budget on them while Katy places 6% of the students in the GT program and spends 2% of the budget on them. Plano spends 1% of its budget on athletics while Katy spends 2% of its budget on athletics.

Probably the most notable statistic for parents wanting their children to attend college are these: In Plano 87% of the students take the SAT or the ACT while in Katy there are 80% taking those tests. The percent at or above criterion on those tests are 60.9% in Plano but only 46.5% in Katy. The SAT Mean Total Score in Plano is 1149 while in Katy it is 1088. The ACT Mean Composite Score in Plano is 24.4 while in Katy it is 22.9. The differences in those scores are indicative of the type of university to which a student may aspire. The SAT and the ACT are far better tests with regard to determing knowledge acquired and the ability to pursue further education, which is what most parents in our district are seeking. And remember, our children compete with those Plano students for admission to Texas universities.

Don’t let anyone say that the TAKS means anything at all with regard to achievement. It is not an achievement test. The Conservative candidates are calling for an achievement test to be given at several grade levels so that parents truly understand what their children know as they progress through the grade levels. KISD used to rely on such tests, but now they spend all the teachers’ and the students’ time on the meaningless TAKS.

My source for this information is http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/snapshot/