Most of us in the private sector have been making adjustments to withstand the national economic downturn. We face actual unemployment of over 16%, and many of those employed have seen incomes reduced significantly.
One person who won’t be feeling any financial pain however,
The current debate over state education funding is prompting many of us to take a closer look at the way local school districts are spending precious funds. One district in my own county gives particular cause for concern.
The Leander Indpendent School District has 30,321 students, but according to Texas Education Agency reports, the LISD property tax rate is among the highest in the state at $1.422.
We Texans love to compare ourselves with California; we have created more private sector jobs, have a lower tax burden and lower unemployment rate, and folks are leaving the formerly ‘Golden’ State in droves to seek Lone Star prosperity. Without a doubt, there is much to cheer. There is one area, however, where indeed Texas is bigger, but it is nothing to celebrate.
While RRISD Superintendent Jesus Chavez was drumming up hysteria over teacher layoffs should the state dare to cut the education budget, he revealed something rather surprising: his ISD has a Rainy Day Fund of nearly $200 million, $35 million of which is immediately available.
While Texas remains on top as the strongest economy nationwide, the state is feeling the effects of the recession. The Comptroller’s forecast indicates tax revenue will drop significantly in the next biennium, and most Republican state lawmakers are planning budget cuts rather than tax increases, saying there are “no sacred cows.”
Well, the cattle are lowing.
One of the most damaging educational theories to come out of ‘left field’ in recent decades was the Outcome-Based-Education model. OBE is responsible for the deterioration of academic standards in our schools, or the ‘dumbing down’ of curriculum, so that all the children can feel good about themselves, since everyone gets a ‘happy face’
On Monday,Representative Diana Maldonado held a transportation forum with Representative Joe Pickett (D-El Paso), Chair of the Texas House Transportation Committee, and David Lewis, a Texas A&M professor.
Maldonado’s guests repeatedly made the case for ‘indexing’ the gas tax,
Apparently the Diana Maldonado campaign had to do some quick scrambling Wednesday in response to the revelation that the Democrat Representative has been avoiding traditional debate. Evidence indicates the campaign may have done some behind-the-scenes maneuvering,
On a recent campaign mailer, Representative Diana Maldonado included this 2008 quote from the Austin American Statesman: “Maldonado has a reputation as a budget hawk.” While I hardly think I need to go over the credibility problems inherent in a liberal town’s liberal newspaper praising a liberal candidate,
Wow, Democrats working for Judy Jennings, left-wing ideologue for State Board of Education, must be getting desperate. Recently, they launched another push poll on the SBOE 10 race in which they ask if voters know that Dr. Marsha Farney “attended a white-supremacist rally” last Summer.