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Monday, October 22, 2007

SAISD Special election talking points to vote "Yes"


Terri Ramos (photo)

Vote Yes For Kids. We Can Invest In Our Schools And Still Lower Our Property Taxes. Less-More

By voting Yes


* We will lower our property tax rate by $0.20 [from $1.37 to $1.17]
* We will generate $13 million locally
* The state will give us an additional $18 million
* We will be able to qualify for $20 million from the federal government for technology
* We will be better able to attract and retain the best teachers and staff for our kids

This means for every $1 we raise locally, the state and federal government will give us an additional $2.76

Other key Points

The State has still not equalized education funding in Texas
SAISD is hit in two ways – we are a low wealth district and we have a declining student population. The other area districts that are having a rollback election are also low-wealth districts. The suburban growth districts, such as Northside and North East, are not faced with this issue yet.

“What about the rising property values? Doesn’t SAISD benefit from that? No. That additional money goes to the state, not to the district.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The original poster fails to mention that by voting "no" an even greater savings will be realized by homeowners. SAISD currently has tens of thousands of excess capacity seats and savings can be realized by the district possible eliminating some of that excess capacity.

If the problem is lack of funding for schools, the the districts should take that up with the state legislature rather than by trying to tack funding back onto taxpayers. Even if increased taxes from property values don't go to the district, we are still paying those increases and somebody is getting them. People are simply tired of getting nickled and dimed to death and have to draw the line somewhere.

I also don't believe in the "this is for our kids" speech that is often spoken. It is called fiscal reality and if people want a perfect education for their children, then they should consider cutting back on excesses and putting that money towards their kids in the form of tutors, private schooling, and so forth. Instead, parents expect the schools to create the perfect student, and although an admirable goal, it likely won't happen simply by throwing more money at the schools.