High School Paper and Printer Ink Tax

Recently, I blogged about a "football tax" that a local school is imposing on parents - a pay to play scheme, if you will. The gist of it, was that while voters may clap hands excitedly that their legislators, school board members, etc. are not raising their taxes, the reality is that the draconian budget cuts to state education spending has resulted in some, umm, creativity on the part of school districts. Creativity that involves parents paying more for their child's free, public education. You may not have heard about these creative budgetary maneuvers in emails from your local superintendent. For example, have you heard about the paper tax? The printer ink tax?

At a local high school, teachers have had their access to copy paper severely limited. So, students are required to print worksheets and the like at home - on their printer with their paper - and bring that to school. So, with no new taxes, and no dipping into the Rainy Day Fund, schools are passing their costs onto parents. Sounds sorta like a tax. Or, private school.

Parents, I hope you loaded up on paper and ink when you were getting those school supplies last week.

Next up, the hot topic of The Air Conditioning Tax!

High School Football Tax

It looks like a local school district got creative with the budget cuts, which means one thing. Costs are getting passed on to parents - many of whom vote for candidates who promised not to raise taxes. I've got a series of examples of expenses parents are picking up, and here is the first one - - a (non)tax on football.

High school football budgets have apparently been cut (surprise! I know, I'm shocked, too) and players and trainers have been given empty envelopes to give and mail to family members who are supposed to fill the envelope with money, and mail back to the child. The money will cover some of the gaps in the athletic budget.

Yeah, I'm not kidding. If this sounds like private school, and not public school, you and I are thinking the same thing. Also, this does not sound like equity because schools that are high poverty are not going to be able to cover budgets with parental cash in envelopes.

So, while school board members can claim they did not raise taxes, parents who can count will realize the school is reaching into their pocketbooks, same as if taxes had been increased. It may amount to more than a tax increase, because my next posts are on . . . .

The Paper Tax and The Air Conditioning Tax.

You can count on two things: Texas high school football lives on and somebody has to pay for it.

Texas Republicans Throw Bush Under the Bus

Turns out the energy bill that phases out incandescent light bulbs was signed into law by George W. Bush in 2007.

Texas Republican lawmakers are throwing W under the gas guzzling bus, claiming its un-American to take away the power of Texans to choose. Yes, they were pro-choice . . .  when it comes to light bulbs?

So, in addition to being pro-terrorism (see: the sanctity of my private parts are a bigger priority than protecting everyone on the plane), Republicans in the Great State also want to prove they are bigger and badder than Mother Earth, legislating that, like the TSA security peeps, she keep her hands off them:

"I just believe that we should be able to buy what we want," Lavender said of the Texas law. "I've had calls from people in every state, and even in foreign countries, saying how much they appreciate this bill." 

"This is about more than just energy consumption, it is about personal freedom,'' said Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Texas.), who's leading the repeal effort in the House. He recently cheered his state's action, declaring on Fox News: "I do thank the Lord that I live in Texas."

And, oh, snap, more evidence that Texas Republicans hate national security:

At his signing ceremony Bush said the bill was a “major step” toward making the United States “a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure.”

Note that Bush's energy bill also required automakers to make more fuel efficient cars. Look for the next Texas legislative session to feature bills that protect the right of Texas bubbas to drive gas guzzlers.

Poor George may have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but compared to the yahoos running his Party now, he looks down right progressive.

Fort Bend ISD Trustees in the News

Two interesting pieces of news out relating to Fort Bend ISD school board members.

First, Jim Babb is stepping down:

Fort Bend ISD Position 7 Board member Jim Babb has resigned from his seat, citing health reasons that he has chosen to keep private.

“It’s a very intimate issue that my family and I have decided to deal with on a private level,” said Babb.

His term runs through May 2013. The board can appoint someone to take his place or run a special election. My guess: appointment (and a conservative one, at that.) My preference: a special election. Let the voters decide who will represent their interests on the school board!

Second, we may have an unresponsive FBISD board member. We certainly have an irritated constituent:

What if you contacted someone running for the school board, never got a response and later when that person was elected, you still couldn’t get a response?  Byron Golden of Sugar Land tells the “Star” he’s tried six times.  Two of those attempts to get in touch with Fort Bend ISD School Trustee Patsy Taylor were after she took office this May. 

What Golden wanted to know when she was running for school board was about her educational background, both her undergraduate and graduate degrees with respect to their names and her areas of study. 

[---]

“Dr. Taylor’s arrogant behavior is a disservice to me as a taxpayer and for all FBISD taxpayers,” said Golden. 

This is the person who beat Jonita Reynolds by 52 votes out of nearly 8000 votes cast. I could find out very little about her during the election (no campaign website, if I remember correctly) and none of my Democratic friends in Fort Bend knew anything about her. Apparently the Fort Bend Star could not get her to return calls during the campaign. I supported Jonita.

I'm not sure what Golden's motivation is to make such a public complaint, and it will be interesting to see if Dr. Taylor responds.

Houston Area Charters and ISDs Face Budget Realities

News from the Chron about how legislative budget cut to public education will affect area charters:

KIPP:

The extended school week — one of the trademarks of the popular charter school system — is going by the wayside, along with out-of-Houston field trips and pay raises for employees.

KIPP will replace Saturday classes for middle schoolers with "independent study projects." That sounds like . . . homework. That's disappointing. One of KIPP's advantages with students in poverty is that they get a commitment from students to participate in extended time in school - including those Saturdays. In non-charters, teachers are desperate for extra time with students who need remediation - and the time is usually not there in the regular, required school hours.

YES Prep:

The YES Prep program, which starts its budget year Sept. 1, will spend the remainder of the summer figuring out how to trim about $2.4 million from its budget. They expect to make do with fewer supplies and trips. Increasing class size is also an option, said Ryan Dolibois, a spokesman for YES.

Clear Creek ISD 

Superintendent Greg Smith told the school board last week that once the legislation is signed by Gov. Rick Perry, CCISD is looking at about $17.5 less in state funding for the 2011-12 school year and $25 million less for the 2012-13 year.

There hasn't been a lot of public information as to how Clear Creek would handle the funding cuts. Here are some details:

The district will not remove the 5 percent Homestead Exemption for 2011-2012 or 2012-2013. The public, through community forums and an online survey, clearly stated its preference for a tax rate election versus eliminating the Homestead Exemption. There are no plans for a tax rate election for 2011-2012 school year.

Interesting that the public in this very Republican area is willing to have their taxes raised, but not have their homestead exemption taken away. CCISD is considering allowing out of district students to pay tuition to attend Clear Creek schools where there is room (interested parents - see their 2011 TAKS data here) , and eliminating some bus routes. The district will begin charging fees for extracurricular programs and transportation in 2012-2013. There will be a 10% cut in all operating budgets beginning this school year. $12.5 million in fund balances will make up the rest of the shortfall.

Fort Bend ISD Responds to Budget Cuts: Accepting Out of District Students

I think this is going to draw in some HISD students out of Southwest Houston and into Fort Bend ISD:

The district says they have class available at some campuses that they will open up this fall to out-of-districts students.  

Of the district's 11 high schools, five will be open. 

There will be even more opportunities at middle schools for out-of-districts students with 7 of its 14 open.  

And there are even more elementary campuses allowing the out-of-district transfer with 20 of 45 campuses opening up.

By the numbers:

Fort Bend ISD is projecting a $27 million budget shortfall for the upcoming school year. Their hope is out-of-district students will be a new revenue stream for the cash-strapped district. 

A state formula allots the district more than $5,200 per student in state funding. Bringing in 200 more students could mean more than a million dollars.

More details:

The opened up the system last year for employees to bring out-of-district students and that generated $750 million. 

All incoming students will have to provide their own transportation.

I can't tell from the FBISD proposed budget how many out of district students they are counting on. (June 7 budget summary here) And, I don't see a recap of the special called meeting of the Board on June 27, that might give that information.

Here is the list of the Fort Bend schools that are open and have space available for out of district transfers (in some cases, only certain grades are "open"):


Elementary:
AUSTIN PARKWAY Only 1st
BRAZOS BEND  Only 5th
BRIARGATE (K-6) Only 2nd, 5th
COLONY BEND All grades
COLONY MEADOWS Only  1st
COMMONWEALTH Only  1st, 5th
FLEMING Only K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th(Bil)
GLOVER (K-6) Only 1st, 3rd,4th,5th
GOODMAN Only K, 2nd(Bil), 3rd(Bil), 4th, 5th
HERITAGE ROSE Only  1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th(Bil)
HIGHLANDS Only  3rd, 4th
HUNTERS GLEN (K-6) Only K, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th
EA JONES (K-6) Only K, K(Bil), 1st, 1st(Bil), 2nd(Bil), 3rd, 3rd(Bil), 4th
LANTERN LANE (K-6) Only 2nd, 4th, 6th
LEXINGTON CREEK Only K, 5th
MEADOWS Only K, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th
MISSION BEND Only K, K(Bil), 1st, 1st(Bil), 2nd(Bil), 3rd, 3rd(Bil),5th, 5th(Bil)
MISSION GLEN Only K, 1st, 4th
MISSION WEST Only K, K(Bil), 1st, 1st(Bil), 2nd, 3rd, 3rd(Bil), 4th, 5th(Bil)
PALMER Only K, 3rd, 4th
PARKS Only K, K(Bil), 1st(Bil), 2nd, 2nd(Bil), 3rd, 4th
PECAN GROVE Only 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th
QUAIL VALLEY (K-6) Only 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th
RIDGEGATE (K-6) Only K(Bil), 1st(Bil), 2nd, 2nd(Bil), 3rd(Bil), 4th, 4th(Bil), 5th
RIDGEMONT (K-6) Only 1st(Bil), 2nd, 5th
SEGUIN Only K, K(Bil), 1st, 3rd, 3rd(Bil), 4th, 5th(Bil)
SUGAR MILL Only 3rd, 4th

Middle Schools:
BOWIE All grades
CROCKETT All grades
FORT SETTLEMENT  All grades
DULLES All grades
MISSOURI CITY 7TH, 8TH
QUAIL VALLEY 7TH, 8TH
CHRISTA McAULIFFE 7TH, 8TH

High Schools:
BUSH All grades
TRAVIS All grades
MARSHALL All grades
WILLOWRIDGE All grades
RIDGE POINT 9TH, 10TH, 11TH


All information about the FBISD student transfer process can be found at this link.  A list of all FBISD schools with maps of their locations can be found here.

Like I started out saying, I'll be very curious if opening up FBISD will drain more talented students away from HISD in addition to those that have been scooped up by charters. Note that the overcrowded Clements high school - always a top ranked high school in the Houston area - is not on the "open" list. But, one of its feeder middle schools - Fort Settlement - is open to all grades. It's 2010 school rating - exemplary. That's a school that stands out to me as one for out of district parents to consider.

2010 accountability rankings (AEIS reports) for all FBISD schools can be accessed at these links: high schools, middle schools, elementary schools.

Fort Bend: Vote for Jonita Reynolds and Amy Mitchell Today!

Today is Election Day in Fort Bend County. I voted early for Dr. Jonita Reynolds for FBISD Trustee, Position 5,  and Amy Mitchell for Sugar Land City Council, District 3.

Both of these women are extremely qualified - read their bios at the links. As a non-profit executive and a former teacher, Dr. Reynolds will bring a world of experience to the Fort Bend ISD school board, as well as a focus on student success and equity. Amy Mitchell knocked on my door and asked for my vote. This race is beween three Republicans and I chose to vote for Amy who is clearly very, very involved in the community and a tireless worker in all of her many projects.

You can view election results at this link tonight! Polls are open until 7 PM. Find your voting location here.

Over 1000 Jobs Lost in Katy ISD and Fort Bend ISD

On top of the news that Fort Bend ISD cut 483 positions, comes news of 600 job cuts in Katy ISD:

That number includes 500 teachers, while the rest of the positions would be non-contractual support workers like bus drivers and cafeteria workers.

This comment was left on my Layoff Roundup post today:

Katy ISD - part of the letter dated 4/4/11 sent to all their staff by Alton Fraily:Due to these legal requirements, the district will begin the process of notifying employees regarding their job status later this week. In this initial reduction, we project cutting approximately 500 contracted personnel.

This is beginning to really add up. When you add resignations and retirements in addition to layoffs, you get to some big numbers of jobs lost in our community. Not everyone is really thinking through how attrition numbers will pile on top of educator layoffs to compound the problem of fewer teachers in schools, more students packed in classrooms, and loss of wage earners contributing to the local economy.

In the past, when reductions if force happened in schools in order to deal with budget shortfalls, eventually enough people would retire or resign that many of the laid off employees would be hired back. Last year, Fort Bend ISD laid off 470 employees and ended up hiring half of them back. Districts aren't anticipating that scenario this year, since the budget shortfalls are so severe. Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Tim Jenney said this in an email to employees:

 It is important to know that the district’s goal is to be able to offer the opportunity to return to work in the district as many people as possible who have been affected by the Reduction in Force. However and unfortunately, the budget reduction is likely to be much deeper than ever before, and the probability of being able to reinstate as many “Reduced” employees as last year is unpredictable.

Anyone want to predict the total number of education jobs that will be lost in the Houston metro area? Leave your estimate in the comments. I'll do some math and get back with you.

Fort Bend ISD Eliminates 483 Positions

Fort Bend ISD trustees voted last night to lay off 70 teachers, on top of the over 400 positions that have already been eliminated through the early retire/resign incentive program, as well as vacant positions that will not be filled. The school district cut 470 positions last year in order to balance their budget, and eventually hired 50% of those teachers back. Superintendent Tim Jenney warns teachers that this time hire backs are less likely, with the more likely scenario being more job cuts (see his email to employees below.)

I was startled to see that FBISD school board member Laurie Caldwell has been laid off from her teaching position in another district:

FBISD board member Laurie Caldwell said she knows firsthand what all of this feels like. She is a math teacher in a different district who is also being let go because of budget cuts."I know how it feels to get your letter, open it up and know that you don't have a position for next year," Caldwell said. "I know what these teachers feel like and it's very disturbing to be making these decisions."

Caldwell will not be seeking reelection to the Board. I am supporting Dr. Jonita Reynolds in that race. More on that race in a future blog post.

In strange turn of events, it appears some FBISD teachers were told Friday they would be let go, only to be told Monday their jobs were saved:

The award-winning Digital Media Academy at Hightower High School was facing a very bleak time. Last week, 2 of 4 instructors were told they would not be returning for the next school year.
But late Monday afternoon, a campaign of phone calls and emails turned the tide, according to the director of the academy. The teachers had been rehired.

Email from Jenney to employees:

Dear Colleagues, Since the onset of the devastating news that the district will lose millions of dollars of state funding from its budget for the coming school year, I have been providing you with timely updates on our progress in dealing with next year’s budget shortfall. As you know, the Board passed an early resignation incentive on March 7th as a means of encouraging our employees who were planning to leave the district to submit their paperwork early. Over the last several weeks, we have been monitoring the incentive; and at the Board’s meeting on March 28th, the early resignation incentive was expanded as a means of minimizing, as much as possible, the need to institute a Reduction in Force (RIF). To date, the district has received 316 resignations. At a specially called Board meeting this evening, we will propose broadening the incentive yet again. While the district would prefer not to lose any employees or their positions, it has been bittersweet because even though the number of positions needing to be reduced is much lower than it would have been without the incentive, it is still necessary to reduce positions. Sadly, approximately 107 of our colleagues on Chapter 21 contracts will have their positions eliminated tonight. It is important to know that the district’s goal is to be able to offer the opportunity to return to work in the district as many people as possible who have been affected by the Reduction in Force. However and unfortunately, the budget reduction is likely to be much deeper than ever before, and the probability of being able to reinstate as many “Reduced” employees as last year is unpredictable. Nevertheless, we must be responsive to the financial situation placed upon us and meet the challenges we are facing. Ironically, despite the outcry from districts across the state, the State House of Representatives voted last night to reduce education by approximately $10 billion—which is our worst case nightmare—a $74 million funding reduction. We have a long way to go before our budget work is finished, and most of it depends on the final budget cut number coming out of the Legislature. I am so sorry for the devastating effects these actions will have on you personally, your school, our community and most of all, on our students. I wish things could be different. This district stands to lose many of its best and brightest educators, and please know we will continue to do everything we can to change the stance the state Legislature has taken with regard to public education funding. Sincerely, Tim Jenney

Will Teachers Make Republicans Pay?

Surely Texas Republican House members are concerned that voters back home won't be happy with teachers being laid off and pubic education being decimated. But, maybe not. They went right ahead and happily made drastic cuts that mean many tens of thousands of educators across Texas will lose their jobs, adversely affecting the local economy and the education of Texas children.

There are some signs that teachers aren't going to put up with it quietly. In Lubbock, several hundred teachers rallied on Saturday. The president of the Lubbock Educators Association made this comment about Republican legislators:

“We don’t believe they were voting these people in to make decisions that would affect their children’s education,” she said.

I think that is very well put, but I also know that Republican legislators have been very single minded, and very vocal, about being voted in to cut government spending. They must think teachers and parents won't demand payback at the polls next November.

In San Antonio on Saturday, another group of educators rallied for education, part of TSTA's 20-city "Day of Action." The board president for the Judson school district talked about laying off new teachers:

“Every cut you make affects kids,” said Gilbert Flores, board president of the Judson school district. “We have to cut everywhere, and unfortunately that means some good, first-year teachers.

All of these educators are very familiar with accountability systems, but will they hold their legislators accountable for their job losses, increased class size, and loss of administrative support? Obama started his re-election campaign yesterday, but Texans need to get fired up and get ready to un-elect the Republican architects of the structural deficit and House Bill 1 next November.

Let Obama take care of himself. We need to take care of Texas and get pro-education candidates lined up to take over the Texas House and Senate.