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I thought Keller WAS considered a property rich district and did have money taken by the Robin Hood plan--
any way to find out the accuracy of who is/isn't on that list?
It took some looking... and research, but here you are!
I imagine he is referring to how the "property rich" districts are separated from the property "poor" districts and the history of how the legislature has managed to slip its full share of the true burden of educating the children of Texas --which is its constitutional legacy
thanks Eric
I guess the qualification on amounts that show up on couple of those years comes from the Supreme Court decision about how to "reevaluate" the Robin Hood plan--like that worked ...
looking at last year's--ending in 2009 some of the districts that went to property rich were changed probably because of the gas revenues coming in
like Muenster
Last edited by loves2read; 06-15-2011 at 07:19 PM..
just thought I'd share this email I got today for your reading pleasure:
Final day of voting is tomorrow (Saturday June 18) from 7 am until 7 pm at your local precinct. All precints are listed below. If you have cast a vote in an election before, just go to the same place you previously voted. Just bring your driver's license and you will be able to vote.
Over the past couple of weeks, we have provided to you an array of facts that the administration has not been sharing with us. A quick recap is as follows: Fact 1 - KISD already has the highest tax rate in the area and will be tied for the top ISD tax rate in the state ($1.67) if the tax hike passes. Fact 2 - KISD tax rates will have increased 21% in 3 years if the tax hike passes. Fact 3 - Contrary to what administration has been saying, not one other district in NE Tarrant Cty has scheduled a TRE in 2011. In fact, we can't find one in DFW tht has actually scheduled a TRE for 2011 except for Keller ISD. Fact 4 - Even though they knew money would be tight, the KISD administration chose to spend over $3,000,000 on iPod Touches, iPads, MacBook Pros and iMacs over the past 10 months. Many of the iPod Touches and iPads have been used for little more than gaming and surfing the internet. Fact 5 - KISD has approx. $54,000,000 in the bank but would rather raise taxes than use one penny of the funds. Fact 6 - The KISD superintendent makes 50% more in salary than the Governor of the State of Texas but won't even consider taking a small pay cut to help the district. Who are we?
We are a small group of concerned moms (and a few dads) that live in the Keller ISD school district. We have children that attend schools in the Keller school district. Our kids range in age from elementary to high school. We care for them very much and want the absolute best education for them.
So how do we know so much about the ins and outs of the school district and why are we so against this tax hike? Because we are also teachers in the KISD system!
We have seen the administration waste a tremendous amount of money over the past several years. While other districts have been buckling down during the recession, our administration and school board has continued to spend, spend, spend.
The reason we are so familiar with the iPad and iPod Touch situation is that we have seen first hand the absolute waste of purchasing these products. The kids, and many teachers, look at these expensive electronic items as nothing more than play toys. If you were to check the search history on each of the iPads, you would find the most frequently visited web site was Facebook. Over $3,000,000 of our taxpayer money so the kids (and many of the teachers) can post to their Facebook account a couple times per day and check out other web sites. The iPod Touches, when they are even picked up off the shelf, are mostly used for games.
Another frustration with the way the administration spends our money is that the current teacher to non-teacher ratio in the district is: 1 teacher to 1 non-teacher. Dr. V says that education is the reason for the tax hike yet only half of the staff in the district actually focuses on teaching the students. We have way too many administrators and other non-teaching staff.
Last month Lewisville ISD eliminated six high-ranking positions in the district that will save them over $600,000 each year. Not one highly-paid administrator has been eliminated at Keller ISD.
Let's just say that they could make all the cuts they need without eliminating a single teacher or reducing the bus service. However, they made a calculated decision to scare the parents by threatening to cut teachers, arts, theater, band, athletics, bus service and anything else that would frighten the families into voting for higher taxes. It has been quite shameful to watch how this administration and Board operates. Their thirst for more and more of our taxpayer money is only exceeded by their arrogance. How else do you explain a school district with the highest tax rate in the area saying they need more money?
Finally, we would love to sign our individual names to the emails we sent. However, as you can imagine the administration would not be happy with us if they knew who we were. They have made it very clear that we need to follow their lead in calling for higher taxes. As a group of parents and teachers, we urge you to vote "Against" the tax hike proposal tomorrow! Thank you!
just thought I'd share this email I got today for your reading pleasure:
Final day of voting is tomorrow (Saturday June 18) from 7 am until 7 pm at your local precinct. All precints are listed below. If you have cast a vote in an election before, just go to the same place you previously voted. Just bring your driver's license and you will be able to vote.
Over the past couple of weeks, we have provided to you an array of facts that the administration has not been sharing with us. A quick recap is as follows: Fact 1 - KISD already has the highest tax rate in the area and will be tied for the top ISD tax rate in the state ($1.67) if the tax hike passes. Fact 2 - KISD tax rates will have increased 21% in 3 years if the tax hike passes. Fact 3 - Contrary to what administration has been saying, not one other district in NE Tarrant Cty has scheduled a TRE in 2011. In fact, we can't find one in DFW tht has actually scheduled a TRE for 2011 except for Keller ISD. Fact 4 - Even though they knew money would be tight, the KISD administration chose to spend over $3,000,000 on iPod Touches, iPads, MacBook Pros and iMacs over the past 10 months. Many of the iPod Touches and iPads have been used for little more than gaming and surfing the internet. Fact 5 - KISD has approx. $54,000,000 in the bank but would rather raise taxes than use one penny of the funds. Fact 6 - The KISD superintendent makes 50% more in salary than the Governor of the State of Texas but won't even consider taking a small pay cut to help the district. Who are we?
We are a small group of concerned moms (and a few dads) that live in the Keller ISD school district. We have children that attend schools in the Keller school district. Our kids range in age from elementary to high school. We care for them very much and want the absolute best education for them.
So how do we know so much about the ins and outs of the school district and why are we so against this tax hike? Because we are also teachers in the KISD system!
We have seen the administration waste a tremendous amount of money over the past several years. While other districts have been buckling down during the recession, our administration and school board has continued to spend, spend, spend.
The reason we are so familiar with the iPad and iPod Touch situation is that we have seen first hand the absolute waste of purchasing these products. The kids, and many teachers, look at these expensive electronic items as nothing more than play toys. If you were to check the search history on each of the iPads, you would find the most frequently visited web site was Facebook. Over $3,000,000 of our taxpayer money so the kids (and many of the teachers) can post to their Facebook account a couple times per day and check out other web sites. The iPod Touches, when they are even picked up off the shelf, are mostly used for games.
Another frustration with the way the administration spends our money is that the current teacher to non-teacher ratio in the district is: 1 teacher to 1 non-teacher. Dr. V says that education is the reason for the tax hike yet only half of the staff in the district actually focuses on teaching the students. We have way too many administrators and other non-teaching staff.
Last month Lewisville ISD eliminated six high-ranking positions in the district that will save them over $600,000 each year. Not one highly-paid administrator has been eliminated at Keller ISD.
Let's just say that they could make all the cuts they need without eliminating a single teacher or reducing the bus service. However, they made a calculated decision to scare the parents by threatening to cut teachers, arts, theater, band, athletics, bus service and anything else that would frighten the families into voting for higher taxes. It has been quite shameful to watch how this administration and Board operates. Their thirst for more and more of our taxpayer money is only exceeded by their arrogance. How else do you explain a school district with the highest tax rate in the area saying they need more money?
Finally, we would love to sign our individual names to the emails we sent. However, as you can imagine the administration would not be happy with us if they knew who we were. They have made it very clear that we need to follow their lead in calling for higher taxes. As a group of parents and teachers, we urge you to vote "Against" the tax hike proposal tomorrow! Thank you!
So you have teacher"s" in your group as well?
Since you note this...that must mean this lends your side some degree of credibility?
What percentage of teachers do you think likely agree with you?
I don't live in Keller--did not teach there but I don't believe all that was posted in that rant against the tax hike
I think that is bogus--there are ways to block Internet access from school-issued products like computers/Ipod-touches so that certain sites can't be reached
I could not check my AOL account when I was teaching in HEB and using a school computer and the school network--AOL was a blocked site
so I don't really think that teachers and students were using school equipment to do that
and I really don't think that blanket reposting an email from an anonymous source (like the one jcamber posted) is really legitimate info
there are millions of sites/emails that go around and reposting the info in them w/o giving the attributes (souce, reliability, ax to grind connection) is just as bad as people used to do by writing about people on bathroom walls--
and there are forum rules restricting/forbidding blanket quoting of material from other sources as well...
without the SOURCE of that email and info about who is creating that info and where it is coming from--there is nothing there to create any foundation for accuracy--
it could be as bogus as a Nigerian email trying to get money out of me for orphan relief by claiming to be from the Red Cross
if the purpose was to lend credence to that list of negatives--I hope people who are voters in Keller actually did some research into the people/organization sending them out
I don't live in Keller--did not teach there but I don't believe all that was posted in that rant against the tax hike
I think that is bogus--there are ways to block Internet access from school-issued products like computers/Ipod-touches so that certain sites can't be reached
I could not check my AOL account when I was teaching in HEB and using a school computer and the school network--AOL was a blocked site
so I don't really think that teachers and students were using school equipment to do that
and I really don't think that blanket reposting an email from an anonymous source (like the one jcamber posted) is really legitimate info
there are millions of sites/emails that go around and reposting the info in them w/o giving the attributes (souce, reliability, ax to grind connection) is just as bad as people used to do by writing about people on bathroom walls--
and there are forum rules restricting/forbidding blanket quoting of material from other sources as well...
without the SOURCE of that email and info about who is creating that info and where it is coming from--there is nothing there to create any foundation for accuracy--
it could be as bogus as a Nigerian email trying to get money out of me for orphan relief by claiming to be from the Red Cross
if the purpose was to lend credence to that list of negatives--I hope people who are voters in Keller actually did some research into the people/organization sending them out
I did research, I'm showing up tomorrow to vote NO!!!!
I know that most of you will not approve of my method, BUT when I can't wrap my mind around the issues related to a proposition or voting issue, I let the League of Women's Voters (when I lived in NJ) or the local paper provide me with a position. I figure they're better at understanding the "big picture," sometimes.
In this case, the Star Telegram says vote YES!
A tax vote for Keller schools | Editorials | Fort Worth, Arlington, Northeast Tarrant editori... (http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/06/3131915/a-tax-vote-for-keller-schools.html - broken link)
This is how I chose to vote for the HEB ISD Bond issue. Easy, huh?
-Eric
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