ELECTION RHETORIC CONCERNING ACCOMPLISHMENTS WHILE IN OFFICE:

 

With regard to the first election in which Chris Crockett was a candidate, there weren't many ways to voice one's opinion, other than in the local papers or on the lonestartimes (CLOUT) blog.

 

I made this post on May 8th, 2008, at 8:45 PM after someone named "tom pogo" had tried to say that KISD was doing just fine because the TAKS test said so.  He then  endorsed Crockett, Duhon and Snyder. 

 

Here is my post:    (The data is from  Snapshot 2006-2007-- the latest available at the time.)

 

The incumbent KISD board members [Crockett, Snyder, and Duhon] like to compare KISD to Ft. Bend or Spring Branch, since they are close, but we all know those school districts are not like Katy ISD.  Perhaps voters should look at a school district in Texas that has always been Katy's arch rival.  That would be Plano ISD which is a suburban school district by Dallas.

 

Plano has 52,753 students/Katy has 50,725.   On the TAKS Plano had 88% of all grades passing all tests taken, while Katy had 83%.

 

Plano has 6,608 total employees, while Katy has 6,505.  Plano has 3,855 teachers, while Katy has 3,421.  Plano has 58% of its total staff in teachers, while Katy has 53%.  Katy has 29% of its total staff in "auxiliary" staff, while Plano has 17% in that category.

 

The average administrative salary in Plano is $85,045 while in Katy it is $96,849.  The average school administrative salary in Plano is $71,168 while in Katy it is $74,453.  The average teacher salary in Plano is $46,945 and in Katy it is $47,646.  The number of teachers with advanced degrees in Plano is 34.4% while in Katy it is 22.9%.  Plano places 10% of the students in the GT program and spends 3% of the budget on them while Katy places 6% of the students in the GT program and spend 2% of the budget on them.  Plano spends 1% of its budget on athletics while Katy spends 2% of its budget on athletics.

 

Probably the most notable statistic for parents wanting their children to attend college are these:  In Plano 87% of the students take the SAT or the ACT while in Katy there are 80% taking those tests.  The percent at or above criterion on those tests is 60.9% in Plano but only 46.5% in Katy.  The SAT Mean Total Score in Plano is 1149 while in Katy it is 1088.  The ACT Mean Composite Score in Plano is 24.4 while in Katy it is 22.9.  The differences in those scores are indicative of the type of university to which a student may aspire.  The SAT and the ACT are far better tests with regard to determining knowledge acquired and the ability to pursue further education, which is what most parents in our district are seeking.  And remember, our children compete with those Plano students for admission to Texas universities.

 

Don't let anyone say that the TAKS means anything at all with regard to achievement.  It is not an achievement test.  The Conservative candidates are calling for an achievement test to be given at several grade levels so that parents truly understand what their children know as they progress through the grade levels.  KISD used to rely on such tests, but now they spend all the teachers' and the students' time on the meaningless TAKS.

 

My source for this information is http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/snapshot/

Just for fun, let's look at the Snapshot figures three years later after two these three board members have been in office for a while: (2009-2010 data--the latest available)

 

Plano now has 54,683 students/Katy has 58,444.   On the TAKS Plano had 90% of all grades passing all tests taken, while Katy had 88%.

 

Plano has 6,762 total employees, while Katy has 7,579.  Plano has 3,941 teachers, while Katy has 4,120.  Plano has 58% of its total staff in teachers, while Katy has 54%.  Katy has 28% of its total staff in "auxiliary" staff, while Plano has 19% in that category.

 

The average central administrative salary in Plano is $88,178 while in Katy it is $108,332.  The average school administrative salary in Plano is $77,306 while in Katy it is $79,085.  The average teacher salary in Plano is $52,375 and in Katy it is $50,374.  The number of teachers with advanced degrees in Plano is 33.0% while in Katy it is 22.6%.  Plano places 13% of the students in the GT program and spends 2% of the budget on them while Katy places 6% of the students in the GT program and spend 3% of the budget on them.  Plano spends 1% of its budget on athletics while Katy spends 2% of its budget on athletics.

 

Probably the most notable statistic for parents wanting their children to attend college are these:  In Plano 78% of the students take the SAT or the ACT while in Katy there are 74.7% taking those tests.  The percent at or above criterion on those tests is 64.4% in Plano but only 46.3% in Katy.  The SAT Mean Total Score in Plano is 1165 while in Katy it is 1082.  The ACT Mean Composite Score in Plano is 25.5 while in Katy it is 23.6.  The differences in those scores are indicative of the type of university to which a student may aspire.  The SAT and the ACT are far better tests with regard to determining knowledge acquired and the ability to pursue further education, which is what most parents in our district are seeking.  And remember, our children compete with those Plano students for admission to Texas universities.

 

Looking at the comparison, it would appear that the re-elected incumbents didn't do very much to improve anything except the number of students (brought on perhaps by their policy of building schools to help developers sell homes), and administrative salaries over their last three year term!