school finance issues (San Antonio, Anton, Wells: attorneys, mobile home, luxury)

[L210]

Most of those other countries that rank higher than us on test scores, but spend less per student have more social programs overall. They have a more holistic approach to their spending. They spend more money than us, they just spend it in different areas. A smaller percentage of children in their countries are impoverished. Economically disadvantaged children tend to perform at lower levels and are more likely to dropout.

http://www.unicef-irc.org/publicatio.../repcard6e.pdf

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by darnit

Back on track.. there are many other ways to save some money on education.

Financial Allocation Study for Texas

Here are my top two
1. Instead of rewarding teachers for years of service or advanced degrees, teacher salary schedules should reward teachers based on performance.
2.Encourage shared-service arrangements.

An interesting read with some valuable information and good advice for districts (though I don't necessarily agree with all of it). Thanks for posting it.

My comments:

1. I noticed that NISD is listed as spending $7310 per student. The KIPP charter school is listed as spending $9709 per student. Huh? I thought the private sector knew how to run schools better? "Economies of scale," some may argue - NISD is much bigger. Allright, lets compare it to Southside ISD (a poorer district in SA with only one high school). Strange, they only spend $7453 per student. "But KIPP's scores are higher." Agreed... so it could then be argued that spending more money might make a difference.

Yes, I picked KIPP vs. another charter school that spends closer to the average, but my point is that charter schools seem to get a pass when public schools that are just as efficient do not.

2. I also noticed that NISD already was responsible for the biggest savings listed. If so, then how can the state say that they need to be more efficient? Aren't they already being recognized as a standard bearer?

3. Regarding your comment on performance based pay, I somewhat agree. However, it is very difficult to decide on how to determine "good performance." Test scores? But how do you account for teachers that teach all honors classes vs. those that teach regular or repeating students. How do you account for teachers teaching in schools (usually the poor districts) that have little parental involvement? If looking at improvement, what would the baseline be?

I still believe, however, that a longtime investment in teaching should be rewarded. In the private sector, advanced degrees do matter, so they should also matter for teachers.

Yes there are some bad teachers out there (my wife, a teacher, has seen some). How do we identify them? I'm not sure without politics becoming involved. Do you fire a teacher because their kids don't pass the class. No! Then teachers would be "encouraged" to dumb down the subject matter - I already see this occuring with some of the for-profit online universities.

As I have stated often, I don't know the answers. I just don't think they are simply, "be more efficient" and "results = pay."

[zhugeliang1]

Aren't they already being recognized as a standard bearer?

That is right, a Texas state report (can't remember the name, maybe it's on the TEA website) came out last year and gave NISD a very high rating for financial efficiency.

[L210]

KIPP serves a lot of economically disadvantaged children and has to provide extra services to overcome their disadvantages. Some charter schools perform very well, but other public schools can't afford to go to their model.

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by L210

KIPP serves a lot of economically disadvantaged children and has to provide extra services to overcome their disadvantages. Some charter schools perform very well, but other public schools can't afford to go to their model.

My post was not to disparage KIPP (they do a great job), but to highlight the fact that if they were a public school, they would be subjected to unjust criticism because of the cost. My wife teaches in a district that is around 90% economically disadvantaged and would never be allowed to spend the same amount as KIPP. Amazingly, they still do a better job than most other districts.

Your earlier post about other countries' social services was right on - the cost comparison between school funding is not an apples to apples one. In a less homogenous society (both in culture and income), the cost of education is inherently greater.

[L210]

I know you weren't disparaging KIPP. KIPP's success comes from the costly educational model it has. If public schools were to adopt that model, they would probably see a positive difference; but they can't do it at current funding levels in Texas.

[mastercone]

Originally Posted by zhugeliang1

That is right, a Texas state report (can't remember the name, maybe it's on the TEA website) came out last year and gave NISD a very high rating for financial efficiency.

Sounds like schools grading schools and rewarding each other with 'Helen Keller' GOLD STAR Government Awards. A quick glance at NISD's budget and available books tell a different story. For example, out of the $1.234 billion dollars budgeted for 2010 through 2011, about $106 million dollars gets flushed down the toilet in financing costs or roughly close to a third of the total property taxes that you and the rest of us paid to support NISD for this year.

Of course, NISD's well anticipated reply would be that all of the other districts do it, and it is good for the children, etc., etc. The bottom line is that the current total debt load on all property owners in the district is 5% of your total assessed property value. That might sound cheap but it isn't after you factor in the value spread over the next 20 to 30 years with all of the compounding and continuing interest. One of the laughable footnotes is how the district was able to retire $1.6 million dollars of bond debt last year when they are still in debt 1,000 times that at $1.6 billion dollars. They'll never pay this off and your tax dollars will never be enough because NISD and every other money-mongering district in Texas is hooked on the cash in which the lingering debt service will continue to sap the purchasing power of every tax dollar you pay the district. You can read more and get up to speed with NISD's links provided below.

Also, I did a quick glance at NISD's monthly check register which is available online every month for all to see. I get the feeling that this largely goes unnoticed each month without much fanfare since the attention spans of many when it comes to money lasts all but 30 seconds or the length of what used to be a Di-Tech commercial. Look at some of these entries for February. There are others but I gave the widest possible latitude of consideration before posting them here. All I can say is that there are a quite a few luncheons at NISD when the cafeteria might suffice for much of it. Magnify these totals for a school year and soon we are talking about some serious change.

Northside Independent School District FY1011 Payments from 02/01/11 through 02/28/11
http://nisd.net/business/reports/registers/2011-02-01.pdf (broken link)

Vendor Name - Check Date - Check Amount - Total Paid

1ST CHOICE RESTAURAN $ 2,487.10

BILL MILLER BAR-B-Q $ 69.25

CHICK-FIL-A AT INGRA $ 769.95
03-Feb-11 189.90
15-Feb-11 383.00
17-Feb-11 197.05

CHILD SUPPORT ENFORC $ 350.76 (TEXAS CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT -- Attorney General)
03-Feb-11 175.38
15-Feb-11 175.38

DC MARTIAL ARTS $ 374.40
15-Feb-11 374.40

ELDORADO CLEANERS #3 $ 1,314.28
15-Feb-11 675.00
22-Feb-11 8.28
24-Feb-11 631.00

FOLKS, DR JOHN M $ 556.27 NISD Superintendent

FULBRIGHT & JAWORSKI $ 4,775.00 LAW FIRM

JASON'S DELI $ 1,614.84
1-Feb-11 416.98
17-Feb-11 1,197.86

MAMA MARGIE'S $ 121.65

PAPA JOHN'S PIZZA $ 1,942.25
1-Feb-11 973.45
3-Feb-11 272.20
8-Feb-11 282.20
10-Feb-11 272.20
24-Feb-11 142.20

PETER PIPER PIZZA $ 449.25

RITAS MEXICAN COCINA $ 242.30


Some or all of these expenses could be legitimate but it seems incredible to think that thousands of dollars in the district are being spent on emergency food runs in the district to local eating establishments.

Operating the NISD is a cinch for anyone with access to the virtually unlimited funds that voters have given through successful bond elections. As for a report with glowing testimonials about how each district is doing is probably a joke. It's tantamount to the any of us evaluating ourselves.

NISD -- "DRASTIC CUTS" News : Northside ISD prepares for drastic budget cuts : Northside Independent School District - San Antonio, TX 78238

NISD Finances 2010-2011 Business & Finance : Northside Independent School District - San Antonio, TX (http://nisd.net/business/reports/finances/2010/ - broken link)

NISD TAX & BUDGET Data Northside Independent School District - San Antonio, TX (http://nisd.net/business/budgets/summary/2010/ - broken link)

NISD Proposed 2010-2011 Budget: http://nisd.net/business/budgets/2010.pdf (broken link)

[Bo]

Originally Posted by mastercone

Some or all of these expenses could be legitimate but it seems incredible to think that thousands of dollars in the district are being spent on emergency food runs in the district to local eating establishments.

When I was a government employee in another state, the only way we were able to use taxpayer money on meals for a group was at a meeting whose agenda included business being done during the meal. (A day-long professional development session with a presenter during the meal is an example. The bean counters at my ex-employer always needed to see the meeting agenda before they would approve the expense.) I imagine there is a similar rule at NISD. You could contact them and ask.

[Dopo]

I see way too much finger pointing. And that's what politicians want when they are hidding something.

I just want to know exactly how much money each school gets, how much do teachers make and what percentange of the budget goes to paying teachers, paying administrative workers, how much is spent in sports, etc, etc, etc.

When there's too much finger pointing is because somebody doesn't want the truth to come out.

[mastercone]

Originally Posted by Bo

When I was a government employee in another state, the only way we were able to use taxpayer money on meals for a group was at a meeting whose agenda included business being done during the meal. (A day-long professional development session with a presenter during the meal is an example. The bean counters at my ex-employer always needed to see the meeting agenda before they would approve the expense.) I imagine there is a similar rule at NISD. You could contact them and ask.

I'm sure you are correct with regards to internal bureaucratic rules for reimbursement. At the same time, however, we have seen an erosion of care for the taxpayer dollar over the decades. Moreover, I would be curious to know what level of sincere business activity could be expected in an environment where attendees are eating Papa John's Pizza on 5 separate outings for a total of just under $2K.

Common sense says that as large as the NISD is, it's not unreasonable to conduct seminars or conferences on school property with everyone allowed to have a lunch break with a meal of their own choosing.

If we just take February's examples of roughly $7,700 alone and factor in a 9 month school year, we might expect total "business luncheons" to total $70,000 for the year, more or less. I learned a long time ago that where there's smoke there's fire. It would be misleading to say that of the entire $1.234 billion dollar budget for the 2010-2011 school year, there is absolutely no waste or mismanagement of funds. Most on this forum know better whether they are willing to admit it or not.