Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This sports insanity is not limited to the "fly over" states. Here in deepest Yankeeland we have spent far more on our HS sports fields than on our science labs. Now some of our people want to spend about 10 million on a auditorium for entertainment and public lectures. I think there are better things to spend 10 million dollars on like road repairs and Public Works facilities.
IMHO I believe in building the necessities before the frills. Sports and entertainment are frills.
Is it though? I honestly would not be suprised if it generated revenue.
But, is the revenue used for education or to finance more sports? The issue I have is that schools should be for education, first, last and always. Far too much money is spent on sports programs, then schools cry that they don't get enough state and fed help.
Katy ISD Surpassing State and National Average ACT Scores
District excelling in all ACT subject areas
The Katy ISD 2014 graduating class surpassed the state and national average ACT scores in all subject areas: English, algebra, social science and biology. Furthermore, the percentage of Katy ISD students who met the ACT benchmark scores in all four subject areas was 46 percent, 20 percent higher than the state and national average.
This year a total of 1,652 students took the ACT exams, an increase of nearly 400 students from 2010.
The ACT consists of curriculum-based tests of educational development in English, mathematics, reading and science designed to measure the skills needed for success in first-year college coursework. ACT research shows that it is the rigor of the coursework that has the greatest impact on ACT performance and college readiness.
Katy ISD Surpassing State and National Average ACT Scores
District excelling in all ACT subject areas
The Katy ISD 2014 graduating class surpassed the state and national average ACT scores in all subject areas: English, algebra, social science and biology. Furthermore, the percentage of Katy ISD students who met the ACT benchmark scores in all four subject areas was 46 percent, 20 percent higher than the state and national average.
This year a total of 1,652 students took the ACT exams, an increase of nearly 400 students from 2010.
The ACT consists of curriculum-based tests of educational development in English, mathematics, reading and science designed to measure the skills needed for success in first-year college coursework. ACT research shows that it is the rigor of the coursework that has the greatest impact on ACT performance and college readiness.
You put anything football in front of the average Ameridolt....they become like a bunny staring in the direction of a hypno-stoat. Football is just as important to the average Ameridolt as how skanky a Kardashian acted that week. Someone casually asks me about a football game, I reply that I don't watch or care about football....that person usually looks like I just shot their mother.
Would not surprise me if some day it is reported that a grade-school spent 1 billion on
its pee-wee football stadium.
Do people realize that there are different funds for education that are not interchangeable? Something like this comes out of the sinking fund which cannot be used for classroom costs. A few years back people were up in arms about our district putting in three new astroturf football fields when they had laid off teachers. People didn't realize that the building fund, which comes from local property taxes, is different from the budget to run the schools which comes from the state. I'm guessing this is the case here too. The district I work for has money to build new facilities but does not have money to pay teachers. We had to take a cut this year to avoid lay offs. I WISH the infrastructure funding could be used for running the schools.
Well, one can see the Texas haters here who post primarily from total ignorance about Katy ISD. KISD serves over 70,000 students within its district, presently having seven 6A high schools. Even scheduling football games on Thursday night, Friday night, and sometimes two games on Saturday, it proved almost impossible to schedule enough "away" games with only one stadium. So, a second stadium was really a necessity, or simply eliminate football altogether, which was not going to happen.
Personally, I don't have much use for football at any level. But in KISD, football is THE sport and probably comes closest to being self-supporting. Having lived in KISD for a couple of decades some time back, I can attest to the fact that academics is stressed over sports even by the coaches, and the district has a higher academic record than many other districts of similar size.
As for the price of the stadium, the voters of KISD approved the expenditure so why should anyone else care? I don't. No money comes out of my pocket for the stadium, and I have no horse in the race,....just like most of you detractors.
But, is the revenue used for education or to finance more sports?
Why not, you may disagree but sports are important learning experience and they can be very expensive for both the district and the parents. If you can fund them through tickets, merchandise and concessions that burden no longer falls on the taxpayer and parents.
Quote:
The issue I have is that schools should be for education,
Understood and agree but you can't generate revenue from a stadium without a sports program. I don't know what the finances of such a stadium would be but HS football is popular enough there that it certainly should be profitable. If they are following the collegiate model it's usually the football program that is paying for all the other sports programs.
The sheer size of some of these Stadiums in Texas is astounding - the new Stadium in Allen, Tx holds 18,000 people with 1,000 seats set aside for their 675 Member Marching Band. It's only the 3rd largest Football Stadium in Texas. Allen Football Team is 10-0 & currently 3rd in the Nation. These Stadiums are not all new - the Stadium in El Paso opened in 1916 (one of the Top 10 in the USA) and one in San Antonio opened in 1910 at a Catholic HS that is still in use.
Note that the Allen stadium has been closed all season as it is repaired. Last year serious cracking was discovered and the stadium was declared unsafe. You'd think for $60M they'd at least get to enjoy it for a few years.
Eventually, though, it may actually end up being a money-maker. Football is a big deal in Allen, almost like a smaller university.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
