Reforms to the debt-issuing process are needed to make it more fair and transparent. Several schools we’ve approached are working to adopt them, but others won’t if Texans fail to ask!
Local Debt
Birdville ISD Poised to Make History
Despite bi-partisan opposition to landmark disclosure and transparency reforms supported by the Texas State Comptroller in HB 14 last session, a few school districts across Texas are considering adopting several “best practices”, voluntarily. Officials in Birdville...
Local Debt: Don’t Wait Until November
Engaged Texans can more effectively influence their local officials by taking proactive steps now as opposed to waiting until November.
Fort Worth ISD Once Again Demands Critical Voter Oversight
We’ve previously touched on Fort Worth ISD’s unjustified borrowing addiction earlier this year, citing the district’s addition of over $1 billion in new debt since 2006 to finance “classroom growth” despite enrollment growing by less than four percent. Now, it seems...
The Education Debt Industrial Complex 2: The Fast Growth Debt Coalition
Recently, we reported on how school administrators, education vendors, and construction companies cooperate to influence ISD bond elections in favor of education debt. However, you might not be aware of the incestuous relationships between some elected officials and...
Is Debt on Your November Ballot?
Each year, there are two customary opportunities for local governments to ask you to pay for more debt. And for those 5-8% of voters who chose to vote in May’s local elections, you may have already seen propositions this year. In fact, over 85% of May’s $7 billion in...
Bayou City Backwardness
Our state’s largest city is in trouble. Rising pension costs, debt service payments, and labor costs are driving a projected budget deficit for the Bayou City. Judging by the agenda of recent city council meetings, onlookers would be unlikely to see this problem or...
The Education Debt Industrial Complex
Spring means it’s bond season in Texas. May brings warmer weather and the opportunity to further indenture our posterity with wasteful school debt. For advocates of responsible financial stewardship by school districts, it is frustrating to see measures increasing...
Billions in New Debt, Over 90% of Voters Silent
Historically, turnout in Texas’ political primaries has languished in the single-digits. The 2014 cycle was no different, even with hotly contested Republican primary races. Less than eight percent of registered voters weighed in across our state’s largest counties....
False Choices, Attacks & Frantic Fiefdoms
Individual taxpayers are often placed at a disadvantage when it comes to weighing in on state and local policy decisions. Perhaps it’s because, in addition to single-digit voter turnout, big government programs often target a minority of beneficiaries at the expense...