La Grange Bond Election

[fungo]

Anybody know if it passed or failed and what was the vote count?

[hookandladder]

Originally posted by fungo
Anybody know if it passed or failed and what was the vote count?

Bond did not pass, around 900 to 600. La Grange very tight town, people care more about their money then the kids. To each his own.

[ziggy29]

Originally posted by hookandladder
Bond did not pass, around 900 to 600. La Grange very tight town, people care more about their money then the kids.
I don't think that's a fair statement.

I think most people are willing to fund schools to the necessary extent provided they get accountability and results. There is a growing feeling that throwing more money at schools indiscriminately is just throwing good money after bad.

Year after year, we spend more per student on education (inflation-adjusted) and it's not like the outcomes are getting better. Nationwide we're spending 3x what we were per student (in real inflation-adjusted dollars) than we were in 1980 and 4x what we were spending in 1970. Given that, why should people feel like giving the schools a blank check is the answer?

Do we have to turn over every cent of our income to schools to show that we care?

[bigwood33]

Bond package proposals in small towns with low to no growth are always tough. Trying it in a down economy, when people are uneasy about the future, make it double tough.

[ziggy29]

Originally posted by bigwood33
Bond package proposals in small towns with low to no growth are always tough. Trying it in a down economy, when people are uneasy about the future, make it double tough.
In the end, the economy matters, but also it matters how much you trust your school board and district administration to spend your money wisely and on educationally important items. And also, whether or not they seem to be doing a reasonable job managing the money they already get.

I've voted for some school bond/tax measures and against others. I will support those which I think are important investments and when I trust the board and administrators to spend it wisely and effectively. If I think they are asking for a blank check with no accountability or transparency, I'll probably vote no.

But to say that someone "doesn't care about kids" if they vote against school bonds and taxes -- regardless of what's at stake and regardless of the situation -- is using the same kind of emotional "you hate the children" rhetoric that guilts people into supporting it. That dog don't hunt.

[hookandladder]

Come see our classrooms in the lower level and then you can state your opinion, Jr. high and down class rooms are over 50 years old. Most people in LG who voted against the bond are people who really do not care what shape the facilities are in, they were good enough 50 years ago and are still good enough now mentality. LG is a tight town, bottom line. You could ask half the people who voted against the bound what is not needed in this bond and they could not answer you, just do not want their taxes to go up and I personally have nothing to gain with the bond passing.Just want better for the kids coming thur LGISD.

[ziggy29]

Originally posted by hookandladder
Come see our classrooms in the lower level and then you can state your opinion, Jr. high and down class rooms are over 50 years old. Most people in LG who voted against the bond are people who really do not care what shape the facilities are in, they were good enough 50 years ago and are still good enough now mentality. LG is a tight town, bottom line. You could ask half the people who voted against the bound what is not needed in this bond and they could not answer you, just do not want their taxes to go up and I personally have nothing to gain with the bond passing.Just want better for the kids coming thur LGISD.

I can't speak for the specifics of LG, but I've seen enough battles over school bond/tax hike initiatives to know the drill in the general case.

One side refuses to ever part with an extra penny regardless of the situation or the demonstrable need. These are the folks you can legitimately call "tight" or even "selfish."

The other side refuses to hold the school board/district accountable for spending wisely and will automatically vote for bonds/tax hikes every time because it's sold as "for the kids". These are the people you can call "enablers for inefficiency and wasting tax money."

The two wild cards are the folks in the middle -- those who will support the *right* initiative but will not be a rubber stamp -- and the economy. The latter is not going to be in favor of those who want these measures passed. Considering how many people are unemployed, underemployed and are seeing their real incomes dropping compared to inflation, it's hard to expect their enthusiastic support at this point in time -- especially since school funding is done mostly with property tax which is due whether they are fully employed or not.

[rancher]

It took Bellville three times to pass a scaled down bond for improvements to schools and that was a few years ago in good economic times. School districts must take a good hard look, the State of Texas is projected to have a budget gap of 10 billion plus this next leg. session. The education part of the budget cuts will be passed down to the local districts. The districts must then decide to cut the budget or raise taxes or a combination of both. With BAE systems about to close here in Austin County there will be close to 2000 jobs gone. Property taxes are down in the state as well as sales taxes. You expect the taxpayer to pull the wagon by themselves.

[hookandladder]

What is amazing is the amount of money spent on improvements before our new Super. and mostly new school board, talk about throwing money out the window. Sad situation, like I said I personally have little to gain. Most facilities other then our baseball and softball fields are just bad, call it anyway you want it all boils down to money.

[rancher]

One question needs to be ask the supt. and school board, what is the district total indebtedness. Then ask how much this is costing the district each year to pay it off. The biggest problem is the disticts seem to like the taxpayers money and seem to think that the party can last forever. When inflation is going, it is easy for the schools as the budget went up each year because property values increased. But today economic environment is DEFLATION, and the oppsite is happening. Very few of the school supt. and board members know how to handle this. In a deflationary environment hard cuts have to be made. It should be required of all school supt. and board members across the state to attend a DAVE RAMSEY COURSE ON MONEY MANAGEMENT AND LEARN TO LIVE ON A BUDGET.

[36phseal]

No doubt about it. The schools are in awful shape and in much needed repair. And before you start trying to be an economist, consider how much the tax payers would have saved on the current cost of building now instead of waiting until inflation hits. Low interest and low cost if you take care of it now instead of later. I personally believe that it would have passed if a new football stadium would have been included in the mix. There seems to be more of a concern about that than the schools. The stadium is the worst in the district and is an embarrassement to the tradition of LG football.

[GreenMonster]

If you build it, they will come.

[playnhurt]

Originally posted by bigwood33
Bond package proposals in small towns with low to no growth are always tough. Trying it in a down economy, when people are uneasy about the future, make it double tough.

Bloomington was able to pass a bond last year. Talk about a small town with little or no growth. Many people living there work in the plants and they were laying people off right and left. The Supt. hired some outside firm to handle the strategy for getting the bond passed. It worked!

[ziggy29]

Originally posted by playnhurt
The Supt. hired some outside firm to handle the strategy for getting the bond passed. It worked!
This seems like a blatant conflict of interest to me.

[Pick6]

I've seen a town in N. Texas vote down a bond for $29 million because it included athletic fields. The next bond was for $29 million without the fields and it passed. Before the 2nd vote all that was said was no one cared about the kids, seems like they might of cared more than some thought.

[crabman]

Hallettsville is the tightest of tight towns and they have a large Catholic school which is tough. Their 12.7 million bond passed 2:1. Go figure. I hope they need a good contractor.

LaGrange kind of surprised me. I thought it had a good chance. The only thing that looked out of whack to me was that $25 of the $29 million was for a 1200 student elementary school. $25 million is a damn nice high school, not an elementary. You should be able to build a 600 student elementary for about $7-$8 million.