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49 The Eanes Education Foundation is more than a month into its 2009-2010 Annual Giving Campaign, with hopes high for continuing a tradition of funding teacher positions for 2010-2011 school year.
Underwritten by Inde-pendence Title Company, the campaign has raised $128,248 from 285 donors, or 6 percent of district parents and $75,000 from the business community.
The Campaign officially runs through the end of the fall semester.
“We are committed to raising enough money to fund 20 teaching positions for the 2010-2011 school year,” said Christie Bybee, chair for the AGC committee. “Since we have set such a significant goal, we need everyone in the community to participate. You will be supporting EISD educational excellence through your donation to the campaign.”
The 20 IN 2010 theme captures one of EEF’s long-term goals, which is to consistently fund 20 teacher positions year after year. In recent years, EEF has provided funds for 16-17 positions per year (16.5 in 2009-2010), so 20 teachers in 2010 will be a challenge. “With the community’s support, we know we can make 20 IN 2010 a reality!” asserts Wally Moore, Executive Director of EEF. A teaching position costs approximately $50,000, so 20 teacher positions equals $1 million.
For the second year in a row, EEF has tapped the business community to kick-start the campaign. Independence Title Company is, once again, underwriting the campaign and the following Corporate Giving Society Members have stepped up to the plate raising $75,000: Ace Fire Equipment Co. Journeyman Construction, Inc.; Ash Creek Homes, Inc. Randy Kunik, D.D. S.; Austin Pain Associates Miller Blueprint Co.; Broaddus & Associates O’Keefe, Egan, Peterman & Enders, LLP; Endeavor Real Estate Group Kyle Raymond, D.D.S.; and Westbank Dry Cleaning.
Just as soon as Wally and Myra show me how they’ve insured that my dollars will go to staffing, I’ll donate. Until then, I’m not donating.
It’s likely that the money donated by EEF to support staffing has allowed district administrators to divert money approved in the budget for staffing to other areas……perhaps athletic endeavors or trips abroad for adminstrators. The money just gets shifted around. In other words, district leaders threaten to reduce staffing in order to get ’staffing dollars’ donated. It’s more fruitful for EEF to pitch the idea of supporting staffing’ and teacher salaries, than to plea for donations to support athletics. This is Accounting 101 for those willing to crunch the numbers and follow the money trail.
One thing is for sure: The coaching positions are not in jeopardy and the central administration positions are also on the rise. All this, while class sizes grow.
EEF will not get a cent from me. I don’t believe the district’s spin.
I know many members of the EEF management and board and like and respect them all. And I respect the honorable intentions of people who contribute to EEF. Even so, it is troubling that people fail to consider the unintended consequences of EEF. Let’s be clear: this is an organization set up to provide charity to a Public School System. So far, so good, one might say. But the public schools are not designed to accept charitable donations: they’re designed to take tax money and use it wisely. With respect to charitable donations, EISD is free to and does in fact require that EEF cannot in any way “dictate” how these contributed funds are spent. But “hey send me money so I can spend it any way I want to” is not a good marketing message for raising charitable donations. Any EEF board member will tell you that in the early days when they could not tell the public that EEF was raising money for teachers, contributions were hard to find; funding teacher pay turned out to be a great marketing hook for EEF. But as “Anonymous” accurately points out, unlike a charity that receives funds for a specific purpose, a public school system can simply create short-fall in teacher salaries by allocating money to something else. It is absolutely true that end the end, EEF contributions may go to teachers, but they also go towards whatever caused there to be a shortage in teacher salaries in the first place. I mean no disrespect to the administration or to the well-intentioned contributors to EEF, or to the EISD trustees who may not even be aware that this can happen, but it is disingenuous to say this cannot occur, because this is simply what happens in the creation of the public school budget. Fund one line item, cut another. But when our administrators choose to fund things before teacher salaries, taxpayers need to seriously consider the unintended consequences that has been created when the keeper of the public school budget has a way, other than fiscal responsibility, to close the gap created by its own management.
EEF donations are down. It’s not just the economy that is causing people to shut their wallets. It’s the wrongheaded priorities of this district … and yes, people are waking up to this reality: EEF money is closing the gap created by an administration that doesn’t prioritize academics and teachers. EEF donations don’t fund teachers, they fund all the goodies that Eanes administrators want and can’t afford. If our community stopped donating, Eanes ISD administrators would have to explain funding their wishlist instead of teachers. The Eanes message that “EEF funds teachers” is a scam and a scare tactic. Would Eanes really cut teachers first? Or administrators and coaches?
It’s good to see the keep eanes informed crowd going after EEF. EEF won’t get a dime from me until all extra curricular programs and activities are canceled!
I don’t give to EEF for similar reasons expressed here. It bothers me to give a government agency money with no strings attached and no way to know what it’s covering for. I see the school district spending money on a lot of things that don’t seem necessary, yet it seems like they’re always hitting us up for money, money, money. I do give to the PTOs where my kids go to school because I do feel like that money is more likely to help the teachers. I also do not like the way they report the numbers of families giving to EEF. I think most families are doing all they can.
One elementary school here in Eanes dressed all the kindergarten kids up for a group photo – ALL wearing EEF t-shirts? Walking five year old billboards? Shameless. And I heard that one of the middle schools pulled kids out of lunch for special recognition photos if their parents were on a list of EEF donors. If that’s true, it’s wrong. Leave the kids out of it. This business of ‘funding teachers’ is a ruse. The district should fund teachers FIRST and then buy the rest of the stuff if money is left over. Isn’t that how a budget works? Fund the most important thing first and then cut back on the non-essentials? That’s not what’s happening now.
It is easy to say let’s just fund academics and not extracurriculars as academics are most important….and academics are of utmost importance. But as parents, as our kids go through high school, what we see is that it is their extracurricular experiences that complete their education as humans, teach them life’s lessons and help them grow as a whole person. It it their extracurriculars that teach them leadership, teamwork, high standards, friendship, response to failure and resiliency, community, public service and yes, school pride. And I don’t just mean sports here, I mean music, robotics, debate, journalism, tech theater and more. A school that only teaches core subject academics is not a school that prepares kids for life. Could we fund it privately – yes, but it wouldn’t be the same as doing it for your high school team. I would instead rather see more opportunities for our kids to find a place to excel and be a part of a high school group rather than less.
It is an uncomfortable feeling when all of your neighbors know whether you have given to EEF or not. I used to have people make little comments to me about it. When there are three or four get-togethers in the neighborhood that I am invited to with Nola Wellman speaking to ask for donations to EEF, I feel pressured. When your neighbors are some of the ones who are in charge of the EEF campaign, they know whether you have given and how much. It is a big fish bowl. I have given in the past but it is really none of any of my neighbor’s business when, where, and how much I donate of my hard-earned money.
I think a lot of people are feeling the pressures of the recession, even in Eanes. Not everyone who lives here is a multimillionaire. Many of us are making sacrifices in other parts of our lives just to pay the high taxes here. It’s fine for EEF to fundraise and I appreciate every one who gives, but I agree that it feels very awkward when our school newsletter gives a specific number of families who have or haven’t donated or makes us feel like it’s our fault if they can’t afford teachers.
Notice how Eanes/EEF wants the donations but doesn’t want to post a detailed accounting of money in/money out. That’s pretty telling.
I tell my kids not to give in to peer pressure and as adults, we should not cave to the pressure either. And it’s one thing to value the benefit of extracurricular activities and a completely different thing to take it to the current spending/priority level. Many of us are paying for our children to participate in activities (sports and otherwise) outside of the district. In fact, many parents are funding private school because due to the emphasis on athletics, their children cannot get what they need academically in the Eanes ISD. I would like to see the district publish a “wants and need” list for the proposed bond well before we vote. Let’s see what they consider a “need”. Could be telling.
I agree with those who have figured out that the EEF “teacher funding” message is merely a marketing gimmick to solicit more donations. Clearly, the superintendent has found more than enough money for the administrators and coaches … 50% salary increases since she was hired? Lord. And with all the new administrators she’s hired … no wonder she wants to take over an elementary school (with a view of downtown Austin) for central administration. How about Eanes ISD funds the teachers and EEF can then fund the district’s wish list? This would be a far more honest approach. Wonder how much money EEF would raise if they passed the hat for … administrator Bill Bechtol ($125K) or the head football coach ($110K?) and of course, Nola Wellman ($225K plus sweet benefits).
As a parent of an elementary student I am starting to wonder- why is it that EEF must pay for our nurse and librarian? Why is it that the Superintendant says that these positions are not necessary or that she doesn’t have to have them?? In fact- they are necessary and expected in a district like EANES- they may not be mandated by the State but they are mandated by the parents who choose to attend EANES Schools.
I would feel more confident making a large donation to EEF if I knew that they were funding the extras the district could not afford. At the Elem level a basic should be a nurse or a librarian. At the high school level I consider Mandarin Chinese to be an extra that EEF should be funding. I think Dr. Wellman would realize people will still give- maybe even more if they thought their child would be taught a second language from kinder on.. but right now I don’t trust where she is spending our funds. The day she attempts to cut a teacher because she has mismanaged our district funds by squandering them on legal fees as she sees fit should be her last day in this district. It should also be our School Board’s last day as well since they have failed to question her expenditures or hold her financially accountable.
It’s time that we all ask a lot of questions. And demand answers. For a change.
I heard that EEF won’t show the public the detailed accounting of deposits and expenditures. What are they hiding?
That’s fine. Let EEF hide their books. I’ll hide my checkbook.
This is a quote from the University of Texas’ current $3 billion fundraising campaign:
“Gifts to the campaign will support first-rate faculty, talented undergraduate and graduate students, research and academic programs across all disciplines, and crucial facilities and infrastructure. Support in these strategic areas will enable the University to compete for the best people, modernize its beautiful but aging campus, encourage innovation, and strengthen its economic, social, and cultural impact.”
Under the theories above, has UT created this need for first-rate faculty by allocating budget monies to athletics? Should alumni just say no to this plea until all athletics or extracurriculars are eliminated? I sure hope not! UT desires to be a top-tier public education institution and to do so, they need funding from all arenas: the State, personal donations, corporate donations, ticket sales, tuition, etc, in order to balance the budget. EISD is no different.
UT may well desire to be top tier university. But alas, it is only a top tier university in the eyes of its alumni. So don’t compare UT to EISD, because in that battle, EISD is way out in front. A college needs top of the line facilities to attract students on the free market: the facilities that UT needs have nothing to do with being a public institution, and everything to do with trying to attract students to attend UT over, say, Stanford. Yes, some silly people choose a college because of the sports scene; but most students are looking to spend 4 years of their life and lots of daddy’s money in search of a degree that matters from an institution that has superior educational facilities–not football stadiums. UT has to have great educational facilities to compete with other colleges for students who are mobile and can attend any university of their choice. A public high school serves an established community. I know more people choose EISD because of its reputation for getting their kids get into great colleges than choose to live here because WLH has a great football team. (Just ask your wife; she’ll tell you why you live in EISD, and it’s not because of the sports.) Your talking apples and oranges, UT Alumni. I guess you missed the classes on critical analysis and thinking. Perhaps you were at a game.
“UT Alumni” – Football in Eanes ISD is not a money-making business … it’s a money-sucking business. Eanes ISD is not UT Austin. Silly comparison. And about EEF … why do you think they won’t open their books to the public?
Eanes ISD is not UT. Ticket sales for athletic endeavors don’t come close to paying the costs for these programs (facilities, coaches, security, insurance travel…..). Crunch the real (if Eanes will release them) numbers reflecting income vs.expenditures. We’re deep in the red on this one.
I mst not have been clear in my post as nobody addressed my real question. If UT, a public university, is trying to fundraise $3 billion from the private sector to support faculty and programs, should we say NO, unless UT first cuts all athletics and extracurricular programs?
Because that is what these message boards suggest we do.
Sometimes less is more. No need to cut athletics and extracurriculars, but there is a clear and immediate need to reset spending priorities. Athletics seems to always WANT more, but that doesn’t mean they need more. Perhaps we should follow the economy and tighten the athletic budget. Such a move would allow funds to be redirected towards needs……. for example academics and teacher salaries. It seems the current administration has set no limit to the amount they will spend on wish list items for athletics at the expense of every other program in the district.
UT Alumni, you continue to miss the point. A university (public or private) operates in a competitive arena where its facilities and academic programs are integral to getting people to pay money to go to the school. A public school on the other hand must educate all who come, regardless of ability or academic qualifications, and is supposed to fulfill it’s tax funded mission: to educate the masses. What these message board postings are saying is yes, most people understand the need for and want to have first rate EDUCATIONAL facilities. But many of us disagree that a covered sports facility/practice field is an EDUCATIONAL facility. It is, at best, a nice to have for a public school if it’s mission of educating students is accomplished and if the district can afford it. Adequate and accessible classrooms, reasonable class sizes, teachers, etc. are critical if a district’s graduates are to be sought after as students by universities. A university is an apple; a public school is an orange. When we put sports facilities on an equal level with with academic facilities–and make no mistake, because EISD Trustees have demonstrated in the past that they make that they do–then we get decisions that cut teachers and increase class sizes. This is what creates the “gap” that EEF talks about: EISD has built a cost structure that means it is forced to cut teachers unless EEF raises money to pay them. You appear to think that it is OK for our administrators to overspend in non-academic areas and fund teachers last. The majority of posters here want to fund education first, especially in tough economic times.
Yes, public schools are supposed to educate all who come. However, Eanes ISD is failing to do just that. And as a result of the district’s misplaced priorities (athletics over academics) many district students are enrolled in area private schools.
It’s our definition of EDUCATION that differs. Core academics alone do not make a complete person or a college ready graduate. I think the criticism in many of these posts extend well beyond the covered sports facility/practice field to all extracurriculars (sports in particular). My concern is for the folks in our community who won’t support any extracurriculars, including the music, arts and sports programs that provide for thousands of kids in our district – and the majority of which are not varisty level. Or worse, they’ll only support their own special interest and essentially vote against all other people’s special interest.
p.s. I wouldn’t vote for the covered practice facility in this economy either. But I do believe in EISD providing opportunity to as many students as possible through as many educational opportunites as possible – extracurriculars included.
UT Alumni, I have not seen a single post that mentions eliminating all extracurricular programs (except yours). I also have not read a post on this thread that states that education should only include core academics. I suggest that you read the article and the comments carefully. The whole issue of Eanes ISD funding wishes before needs, creating a gap, and then expecting the public to fill that gap through EEF donations is an interesting place to start. After that, you could research the athletic spending in this district at the expense of other areas that are indeed essential to any definition of education (like teachers and safe facilities). Easy to do with a google search. It’s also important to acknowledge the district children who have transferred to private school because the district refuses to meet their needs — and I’m not referring to athletic needs. I agree with you — I won’t be voting for the covered practice facility either.
Also to Dream on Longhorn – if people choose to locate to EISD because they want their children to get into good colleges, a huge part of that is extracurriculars. We have all heard stories about outstanding academic students at Westlake and other Austin schools who had perfect academic records, even top 5 students in a class with perfect scores, that didn’t get into the colleges they wanted because their resumes were only core academic and didn’t include any extracurriculars or evidence of well-roundedness. Again the definition off education needs to be broad. And broad can mean more expensive for a school district’s budget.
And let’s talk about the “orange” that is a public school. I disagree with you that this is a community without choice. EISD is a magnet for many families that can choose where they want to live so this is not a set community – EISD “competes” for students every day. But you are right in that a public school absolutely must educate whoever walks in their doors and must budget accordingly. But we must appreciate what a strain that may put on a school’s budget. It is a fact that there are students with special needs in EISD that require their own room and a full-time teacher and a teacher’s aide. It is important for those children to receive that treatment and the district is obligated by law to provide it, but that allocation of resources (2 teachers to 1 student ratio versus regular ratios of 1 teacher to 20 students) has a significant impact on the rest of the budget.
Bottom line is that there are a lot of hands out when it comes to budgeting time. My view is that there are so many competing special interests in EISD that a “perfect” EISD budget/bond is probably one that includes something for everyone but doesn’t cover everyone’s wishlist. So, everyone is a little happy and a little mad. Sounds like my family’s budget! But hopefully not something every special interest will vote against because they didn’t get their full wish list.
It’s not the definition of “education” that differs. Rather, it’s a prioritization issue: athletics vs. academics. Needs vs. wants. Here’s the question: Do we need to have the very best of everything in athletics while academics (teachers, class size) suffer and non-athletic facilities are crumbling? The Eanes ISD facilities directors told the board (two years ago) that the district has “duct-tape syndrome” and he wasn’t referring to the state of the athletic facilities.
Now to the “orange” — only the transfer students who attend Eanes ISD at no cost and whose parents do not pay property taxes need “apply” to Eanes. Eanes chooses these transfer students based on their high TAKS scores. While in theory Eanes (as a public school) should educate each child who walks through their door, this is simply not happening in this district. Instead Eanes ISD considers itself a “private” school and is working (with EEF) to “change the mentality” of the parents in the district to comply (and donate accordingly). However, Eanes is not a private school. Eanes is a public school and should indeed be educating each child who lives in the district instead of forcing some children to leave and transferring in their (easy to educate) replacements. The district’s “private school” approach includes forcing out some district children, cherry-picking transfer students rather than educating those who live the district no matter their needs and/or abilities. (And that includes children with extraordinarily high academic abilities who sit in the Eanes ISD crowded classrooms with grade level curriculum — learning nothing new each day.)
Your “bottom line” sounds reasonable. There are always competing interests in any budget. But the Eanes ISD reality is this: there is always money for athletics. Athletics is the priority of this district. Follow the money (including a detailed look into the district’s past spending) for confirmation.
So UT Alumni, you nailed it: the real problem is those pesky kids with special needs who put a strain on a school’s budget because each has a full time teacher and an aide. Bunk. This is the politically correct way of saying “that kid in the wheel chair is why my Johnny can’t have a covered sports facility” or “if it wasn’t for that kid with the aide, my child could have Mandarin Chinese taught from first grade.” EISD makes poor use of inclusive classrooms and relies too heavily on segregated classes to educate children with special needs, but UT Alumni, trust me, EISD’s shortfall is not being caused by money spent in Special Education. Consider: 1) The SPED teacher and aide community and Special Ed services have been decimated (although we do have more administrators than we had in the past); 2) EISD has been laser-focused on cutting it’s SPED population over the past 4 years (you can read another story in the Picayune about how EISD paid a parent to take his child out of the district rather than provide services to a SPED student); and 3) EISD apparently is re-routing Federal Stimulus money authorized by Congress to fund new Special Education services into its general fund (which seems to be against the law, as well, so we’ll probably need a few more outside attorneys). So don’t lay this budget shortfall on the backs of students with disabilities. It is insulting, and it is simply untrue. (Full disclosure: I have a child with Down syndrome in EISD.) But UT Alumni’s posting of this bunk in conjunction with this story on EEF gives me the opportunity to say that EEF has made it perfectly clear to me many times that funding teachers for children with Special Needs is simply not part of its mandate. I have told Wally (and the other Exec Directors before him) that I cannot support EEF as long as they continue to demonstrate that children with disabilities are outside their mandate, and I will not vote for a bond election that includes an indoor sports facility that increases EISD’s operating costs but will not improve the educational outcome for a single EISD student. Our kids—all of our kids—deserve great teachers, smaller classrooms and up-to-date teaching methodologies long before they need to practice football protected from the weather.
Eanes ISD receives federal funds to supplement the needs of special education students. The district also received $1.5 million in ARRA stimulus funds for special education this year.
Here are examples of posts that concern me:
“EEF won’t get a dime from me until all extra curricular programs and activities are canceled!”
“I’ll only vote for core academic and safety issues”
But I must admit that most of the negative posts relate to athletics vs all extracurriculars. And more than any, it is football as opposed to the other dozens of athletic programs in EISD. Deserved or not, football seems to be the whipping boy of the blogs!
I personally consider athletics to be an extracurricular, and I defend all extracurriculars collectively as I do not like special interests that can’t view the needs of other interests. I appreciate advocacy, but in the end, we have to serve all constituencies. If we are going to fund one extracurricular we need to fund them all. But the issue of whether football as an extracurricular is funded more than others is a fair question. But likely a complicated one as well.
But overall, I believe that EISD values academics over athletics. There are too many academic accomplishments and too many good things happening for our kids to believe otherwise. 98% going to college; record national merit scholars; record AP tests, successes for art, choir, orchestra, theatre, latin, debate and journalism; curriculum offerings like robotics, film, chinese, etc. As Dream On says in #19 – more people pick EISD because of academics than athletics. That says a lot about EISD’s prioritization of, funding of and success in academics. I don’t really worry about class size as I have seen success for kids in large classes and it prepares them for college. Teachers I have spoken to and respect also don’t have a problem with larger class sizes (although I know that may not be universal). I’d rather see broader curriculum offerings and extracurricular funding than lower class sizes. Just my opinion. Maybe because I prefer the UT model vs. the small college model
As for prioritization, that is easier said than done. One citizen’s “need” is another citizen’s “want” and vice versa. Thus, a bitter battle of the special interests. Again I go back to the theory that if everyone is a little happy and little mad at the end of the budget cycle, the District and the trustees have probably done a good job!
Transfer students – couldn’t disagree more.
You may not worry about class size UT Alumni. Nola Wellman may not worry about class size. But let me me tell you: you and Nola aren’t teaching. Have you asked an Eanes ISD kindergarten teacher what it’s like to have a class of 22-23 children, some with special needs such as disabilities and/or giftedness? How about the 5th grade teacher with 27 children in a crowded class or the WHS AP teacher who has students sitting on the floor because another desk just won’t fit in the room (true story). Have you asked the student who needs clarification on a lesson or who just wishes that the classroom experience could be more interactive (and not with a laptop but with a teacher). Now, you likely won’t find complaints about “class size” in athletics — WHS Football Coach Darren Allman was allowed to bring FIVE coaches with him. True. Why? Because class size matters in Eanes ISD athletics.
Carl Shepherd – that was very unfair. I stated that the cost of special ed services is a fact not a “pesky” fact. I am honored as a taxpayer to support these kids. But can we not continue to fight each other and instead agree that there are huge demands on our school district’s budget. There are so many demands at budget time. We should fund (1) all the academic needs way above and beyond what the state of Texas will fund (which is woeful in its standards), (2) all the extracurriculars that our kids need to be well-rounded citizens and to gain acceptance to colleges, and (3) the special needs of our students. This is no particular order but all are equally important. It is a huge task.
Longitudinal research proves that smaller class size is associated with higher achievement at all grade levels and most of all in the early years. “Broader curriculum offerings and extracurricular funding” for the high school at the expense of class size in the elementary grades may be politically popular but is not necessarily best practice.
UT Alumni – Until you have a kid who has been harmed and forced out of Eanes ISD by this administration and its private attorneys, you have no idea what “unfair” looks like. It’s the district that needs to “continues to fight” children (at all grades) whom they do not wish to serve. And this administation also continue to fight to fund athletics to the hilt.
Should have read: It’s the district that “continues to fight” children (at all grades) whom the administration/board does not wish to serve.
P.S. There’s a fight alright and it’s for the children — including those who have been forced out.
UT Alumni, you may not realize when you single out special-needs kids as a strain on the budget that academic support for special education has seen dramatic cuts since the school board president announced a few years ago that he felt like “too many of those kids” were moving to the district and that it must be because Eanes ISD was doing too much for them. Since then, the administration has managed to reduce the population by several percentage points through a variety of techniques, including the use of expensive lawyers working behind the scenes who are well-known throughout Texas for their talents in “encouraging” special-education and at-risk students to seek their educations outside of their public schools. This is not only happening in Eanes, but it is happening here. Carl Shepherd deserves great credit for being the front-man for Eanes special-ed kids and the teachers who work hard for them. I agree that fighting each other is not the answer, so I hope you will understand that special education has already been cut to the bone, while it at least appears that extracurricular programs have been enhanced. This is the crux of the stress points you see on this thread. I hope that all Eanes parents and taxpayers will become more informed and take care to protect special education students and their teachers in the policy, budget and bond processes.
UT Alumni: I’m so sorry; what part of “It is a fact that there are students with special needs in EISD that require their own room and a full-time teacher and a teacher’s aide. ” did I missunderstand? To the disabled community this is the equivalent of the racist refrain of eras past when people spoke with absolute certainty about the welfare mother with 8 kids driving the Coupe de Ville Cadillac. So if you didn’t mean it, methinks thou doest protest too much. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of children with special needs never REQUIRE a full time teacher and an aide. In fact, that practice is so incredibly wrong, so disproven as being in the best interest of the child, and so dreadfully wrong headed that it should never, never happen. In fact, if you’re seeing it you should scream loudly because not only is it needlessly expensive, it is not a practice an “exemplary” school should ever employ. So I’ll say it again: bunk. UTAlum, you’re the victim of people within EISD who seem to think like Dick Cheney when he constantly repeated that Saddam attacked America: if they keep saying it, the public will believe it is true. It worked for Dick–for a while at least. The special ed community cannot let you repeat publicly (or at least behind the wall of anonymity that your “handle” affords you) that children with disabilities are the reason for the budget shortfall. They aren’t. Read this full string and you’ll learn something if your mind isn’t closed. You want examples of silly teacher/student ratios? Look no further than our beloved football coaches. You’ll see ratios there that the average AP English teacher would sell their mother to have.
I am not going to respond to this inflammatory comment except to say what I HAVE learned from these posts – that there is a bitter battle brewing among the special interests in EISD. I do not believe “that children with disabilities are the reason for the budget shortfall” any more than I believe that the soccer team is the reason, or the counselors are the reason, or the middle school music program is the reason, or the extra AP classes are the reason, or even that football is the reason. These are all important but competing special interests supported by passionate parents who want the best for their kids. All hands are out at budget time and every interest likely believes theirs is underfunded and not the priority it should be. The hardest job is balancing all these needs and trying to please everyone given the miserable job the State of Texas does in funding schools. If you believe the District’s priorities are truly misplaced, you should consider running for school board.
UT Alumni –
Congratulations on a very constructive response. I don’t have a special needs child. In fact, my children — all of them — benefit greatly from the sports/extracurricular programs in this school district. But the special needs families have been treated viciously by this school district. The response from that community can come acoss in a rather shrill manner, but it’s only out of frustration, anger, and a sense of powerlessness that their children have been so mistreated.
UT Alumni – If you are just now learning that there is “a “bitter battle brewing” among the special interest in EISD” then you haven’t been paying attention. To generalize that funding is the problem is the lazy way out. That’s just nodding your head to the district’s rhetoric. Base your opinion on facts. Learn the facts by reviewing the district’s public information. Your statement that we must simply “run for the board” as a solution is flawed. As citizens, we have the right and the responsibility to become informed and engaged in these issues and voice our opinion. It’s important that citizens learn the facts by taking a look inside the district rather than simply repeating some tired excuse spun by those who would have your support the status quo. Dig deeper, UT Alumni. Much deeper. It’s time for you to graduate from 101 and try some advanced courses. Your comments are trite and while grammatically correct with well-structured sentences do not reflect insight. While you may not have experienced the problems in this district firsthand as many of us have, it may serve you to listen. And not just to the rhetoric of the district. To be truly educated on the issue takes hard work and UT Alumni based on your posts, you haven’t done the work, experienced the problems firsthand, or listened to those who have.
TXTCHR – thank you for your thoughtful comments and I appreciate the information you presented which was news to me and something I will try to learn more about. I can appreciate the stress points that you address.
The one piece of information I would like to add to the discussion relates to your comment that “it at least appears that extracurricular programs have been enhanced.” Over the last 6 or 7 years, because of Robin Hood, my experience has been that many extracurriculars have had significant budget cuts. But rather than bear those cuts, the parent organizations that support those extracurriculars stepped up their efforts. Any parent of a child in extracurriculars knows that they will be writing a significant check each year for all the extras that aren’t covered by the EISD budget and also participating in fundraising activities. There are dozens of parent organizations that collectively probably raise millions of dollars to pay for extracurriculars – uniforms, costumes, instruments, private lessons, buses, trips, meals, equipment, and on and on, and volunteer many hours. So, although there may be an appearance of enhancement of extracurriculars, the enhancements have not necessarily been EISD funded but funded instead from the passion and the pocketbooks of the supporting parents.
Good point UT Alumni. Many parents of special education students share this added expense, as their children are also participating in extra-curricular activities and these parents are donating to the PTOs that are increasingly tasked with paying for basic classroom supplies, as well as to EEF to fund teachers, in addition to many additional outside expenses. No doubt that the Robin Hood situation has stressed many budgets within the school district. It is very important to understand, though, that when we cut special education services we are cutting academics, not extra-curriculars. The passion of many special ed parents is to protect the core services that literally mean the difference between their children being educated or just moved through the system. The danger in comparing their need for academic services to the desires of extra-curricular groups is that the two are not comparable.
And what about the parents who can no longer afford to write the ’significant check’ that will allow their student to participate in the extracurricular programs that have outgrown their wallets? Has our leadership meant to make these programs so elitist and inaccessible for some students?
What’s the name of an “average AP English teacher”? I may know someone who might want to contact her about her mother.
Seriously, since I probably have your attention now, the point is that mature adults should not be teaching others, especially students, that making emotional and illogical statements and arguments do not help one’s cause usually, and moreover probably hurt such, except with like-minded persons who do not need to be persuaded to your viewpoint anyway.
And this goes for the statement (the second post) which seems to have started this whole ruckus. As my mom used to say, “if you stir up a hornets nest at a family picnic, you are responsible for ruining the picnic”.
Or, maybe it really is the first poster’s ( a big fan of the opposing team who seems to post only positive things) fault because he congradulated someone for a job well done and wished them luck in the future. Wouldn’t it be nice if a few more people in Westlake could do that.
Not every student athlete pays his/her athletic fee of $250 because last check the outstanding balance owed to the district (with no apparent plans to collect) was near $80,000. I’ve seen the documents to prove this.
UT Alumni, you may have heard that athletics has been cut in Eanes ISD but there are no documents to evidence that. Just the opposite. Ask the district for documents that evidence cuts to the athletics budget. I did just that and the district did not have any responsive documents. I’ve seen a purchase order for t-shirts for the athletes with the words “Chicks Dig Chaps” (so cute!) on the front and that expense was paid straight out of General Fund 199 not athletic fund 183. The charter buses (very expensive) to transport the athletes were also (but not always) paid out of General Fund 199. The point is this: if athletic is funded in a million creative ways and from many different accounts besides 183, there is no accurate way to track the total expenditures to athletics or to a particular sport. One thing is for sure – this district spares no expense to make sure that athletics has the best of the best. That’s hard to accept (and pay taxes towards) when children in our school are denied essential educational services, supports, and supplies.
Eanes ISD makes it impossible to follow the money.