The Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) represents exactly the kind of obsolete and financially inefficient government entity that has plagued our public education system for years. It’s one of only two departments of its kind left in Texas, providing only...
Waste Watch
Part One: Duplicating Government in Harris County
Harris County taxpayers have been unwittingly paying for the same service from different governmental entities for years. On top of paying taxes for their local school district, they’ve been funding $16 million in taxes to the Harris County Department of Education...
Anything You Can Do, We Can Do More Inefficiently
Not to be outdone by the ridiculous public transit ideas from the Austin City Council, the city of San Antonio now wants to spend $180 million of taxpayer money on a boondoggle they can call their own. An independent report issued from the non-partisan Heartland...
Keeping May Elections Costs Austin Taxpayers
Who cares about reducing costs and increasing voter turnout? Clearly not the Austin City Council. They voted to keep their elections in May, despite the chance to increase voter turnout and save money. The Austin school district, on the other hand, is casting their...
Katy ISD Takes Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Katy ISD had shown signs of fiscal responsibility in writing a new budget, cutting mostly outside the classroom and not increasing property tax rates. Even local Tea Party groups offered their praises. All of that goodwill might be lost once locals find out about the...
Paper Bag Imprudence
Call it California peer pressure if you will, but in accordance with the city’s trademark environmentalism Austin is taking further steps to stop all that is bad in the world: Mayor Lee Leffingwell recently announced a revived proposal to ban plastic shopping bags in the city’s retail businesses.
Open Meetings, Open Government
For the past year, the Tarrant Appraisal District has been in violation of state law. By failing to publicly post agendas for meetings over 72 hours in advance, any actions they have taken could be nullified by the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Policing Potential Conflicts
Shortly after Houstonians found out their red light camera program is back, word got out that a local police officer and vocal advocate for the program was also on the payroll for the company that operates them.
Bike-Share Boondoggle
How much are you willing to pay for a bicycle? $200? $400? That’s nowhere close to what the City of Austin is going to spend per bike for a new “bike-sharing program” downtown. At over $1,500 per bicycle, the Austin City Council is ready to spend $1.8 million on their newest taxpayer boondoggle.
Who Needs Teachers When You Can Hire More Administrators?
It seems a $100,000 Public Relations Director isn’t enough for Austin ISD, a school district that recently fired hundreds of teachers to close a $95 million budget gap. Now, they want three more coordinators in the same department, all with salaries at or above what a teacher would make.