The Austin-American Statesman reports that during the budget debate, State Rep. Mark Strama, rabid liberal Democrat of Austin, said “the two-year budget is a vestige of bygone days when members traveled to Austin by horse and is no longer feasible.”

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,

In the shadow of a School Board meeting to deliberate school closures and teacher layoffs, Austin ISD is also looking to hire a top administrator to oversee “Public Relations and Multicultural Outreach.”

When I was in high school, I quickly realized there were a lot of inefficiencies in my local school district, but it wasn’t until I started looking into conservative projects such as Protect the Classroom and the Red Apple Project that I realized how much of a structural problem there really is.

On Pratt on Texas I’ve recently hosted two special programs on the subject of groundwater rights in Texas (which you can hear here & here.) Additionally, I’ve read many media accounts of the differing th

Too often people complain about the quality of education in Texas, but rarely do they look at ways in which we can restructure and improve our educational system. A step in the right direction would be to return our focus to educating students which means more emphasis on teachers and cutting administrative costs. Aside from refocusing employment policies, I believe Texas school districts could undergo a fundamental restructuring, saving taxpayers more money and focusing more attention on the education of students.

I’m a happy customer of Amazon.com and I don’t like having to pay sales taxes on purchases made anywhere. But the idea, put forth state rep. Linda Harper-Brown, that Texas sales tax law should be changed to benefit them is ridiculous.

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.

Once again liberal hypocrisy is on full display and in such a beautiful way in Wisconsin. Due to a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has decided to take on the unions who are burdening his states budget by temporarily cutting pay and limiting the practice of collective bargaining.