Stop Blindly Voting for School Bonds PLEASE! (San Antonio, Anton: insurance, how much)

[stevesinatra]

Can we please stop blindly voting FOR school bonds? They contain so much fluff and our property taxes are outrageous as it is. NISD built a new natatorium recently and they already had one! Just because it has "school" attached doesn't mean it's going to be a positive thing. Please research the bonds before blindly voting for them. It's okay to say "no".

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by stevesinatra

Can we please stop blindly voting FOR school bonds? They contain so much fluff and our property taxes are outrageous as it is. NISD built a new natatorium recently and they already had one! Just because it has "school" attached doesn't mean it's going to be a positive thing. Please research the bonds before blindly voting for them. It's okay to say "no".

What might be more effective, instead of just saying "just say no!" is to outline exactly what the bond is for. How much money is going to each project, how is it distributed, how the increased tax affects one's property.

Just Say No didn't work for drugs and it isn't working for elections....

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by Chaka

What might be more effective, instead of just saying "just say no!" is to outline exactly what the bond is for. How much money is going to each project, how is it distributed, how the increased tax affects one's property.

Just Say No didn't work for drugs and it isn't working for elections....

Seems like the title of this thread says exactly what you are saying in a whole paragraph. We do need to stop "blindly" voting for school bonds.

Apparently schools don't understand how to do more with less. It is just bond after bond.

[Bob Buford]

Agreed. What I had posted in the other thread about appraisals. I've worked in construction and see the tremendous 'fluff' they put into them;

They say to Vote for a Bond and they won't increase taxes. Can't believe how many fall for this line of bull. Well, here is how they get it and too many can't put two and two together. We need to spread the word since so many appear clueless.

In a major metropolitan we've lived in, in another state, the residents knew to vote down the bond several times to make the school districts really look at what it is they are doing and to perform the work more efficiently. I've worked for one of the major school builders in town and you'd be very angry to see what excess they go through with the construction of new schools as monuments to themselves since the public lets them get away with it.

i.e: Tex Hill Middle School has a large brass Foucault pendulum in it's main lobby. They preach that it's to educate the children about the rotation of the earth. Including the pendulum, the additional roof structure, radiused glass protection walls, additional foundations, etc., the cost to construct it is $260,000!! Seriously? There are major colleges that don't even have something as exotic as this installed because of the waste of money. The majority of the walls for the main building and entrances are radiused which incurs additional cost in layout of walls, foundations and structure, etc.

That school was also awarded LEED Gold Certification. They will claim it's for encouraging energy efficiency but you can do the same without the extensive governmental certification process which easily adds $150,000 to $300,000 to any project just for the additional management it takes to handle the paperwork and approval process. There is a reason why mostly governmental buildings receive LEED certification because private owners are too privy to waste their money on nonsense.

BTW, none of that excessive 'features' were included with the Bond description. They only cried for help for their 'over-crowded' schools and a reason to build more. No one knew that a middle school was going to be more exotic than some colleges.

Again, please spread the word and have this nonsense stop! Make them own up to their responsibility to spend our money wisely!

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by Azure110

Seems like the title of this thread says exactly what you are saying in a whole paragraph. We do need to stop "blindly" voting for school bonds.

Apparently schools don't understand how to do more with less. It is just bond after bond.

Nope.

The title is just rhetoric. Be specific. Don't support, Do support. Neither of these say anything at all. Why? Why not? What is the bond doing? What is it not doing?

i don't vote yes or no because someone tells me too.

As for schools doing more with less, that is how schools function and have been functioning. How much less should we go? Eliminate schools altogether?

[flashfearless]

Originally Posted by Chaka

...

As for schools doing more with less, that is how schools function and have been functioning. How much less should we go? Eliminate schools altogether?

During the time when I have looked closely at school budgets, it always to me comes back to the administrators, transportation, and teachers unions which are wasting money. One school district I was in even had a superintendent level pay person just for special needs kids. I'm sorry, but a school district doesn't need 8 superintendents. I also feel we have moved beyond the need for teacher's unions and their shenannegans of doing things like trying to make a point about benefits by striking during testing week or something.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by stevesinatra

NISD built a new natatorium recently and they already had one!

NISD's natatorium was funded with the citywide venue tax from 2008. I remember it being in the list of projects that tax would fund, because it could host Olympic trials and draw participants from around the country.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by Bob Buford

That school was also awarded LEED Gold Certification. They will claim it's for encouraging energy efficiency but you can do the same without the extensive governmental certification process which easily adds $150,000 to $300,000 to any project just for the additional management it takes to handle the paperwork and approval process. There is a reason why mostly governmental buildings receive LEED certification because private owners are too privy to waste their money on nonsense.

NEISD builds its schools with LEED certification to reduce utility bills and make the district's operating money go further. That's an amenity that pays for itself over time. Since their schools also get CPS Energy utility bills, I would guess that NISD has similar motivations.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by flashfearless

During the time when I have looked closely at school budgets, it always to me comes back to the administrators, transportation, and teachers unions which are wasting money. One school district I was in even had a superintendent level pay person just for special needs kids. I'm sorry, but a school district doesn't need 8 superintendents. I also feel we have moved beyond the need for teacher's unions and their shenannegans of doing things like trying to make a point about benefits by striking during testing week or something.

Are teachers' unions funded by school districts?

I thought, like all unions, they're funded by the employee dues. Certainly given the battle between districts and teachers' unions, I'm sure the districts have zero interest in funding the unions.

I agree there are layers of waste. I'd like to see some consolidation of districts (not entirely, but some). I do believe specific programs require senior level administration, but there is a lot at the admin level that can and should be changed. The actual schools, however, are doing amazing things with very little.

[pobre]

The discussion of teacher's unions in San Antonio is moot, since there are none. (I'm defining union as a mandatory organization, usually affiliated with a national one, such as AFSCME or AFL-CIO, that acts as an intermediary between labor and management, that has the power to negotiate contracts and working conditions, call for strikes, etc.)

Teacher may choose to join a professional organization, and pay dues, but that is outside of the school district. The organization provides benefits such as ongoing training, a magazine, and professional liability insurance. They do not negotiate with the districts or state for teacher contracts. THERE ARE NO STRIKES.

In the state of Texas, teacher salaries are set by the state. Districts/local school boards then adopt a salary schedule accordingly. ANYONE can speak at a school board meeting. Those who oppose projects and initiatives are welcome to do so.

Consolidation of the larger districts in San Antonio would be tricky. NISD has 106,000 students, and covers 355 square miles, with 119 schools. NEISD has an enrollment of 68,000, covers 144 square miles, and has 66 schools. Not small by any means.

New schools being constructed are much larger in the past, and are made of better materials. (So, for that matter, are houses.) But the better materials component means less maintenance, and can lower utility costs, especially when combined with initiatives like LEED certification. Natural light, low/no VOC materials, recapture grey water, sensors for lighting are not wasteful, but control waste. I guess that's why airports and other companies (HEB, IKEA, USAA) also follow LEED guidelines.