WHEN DO SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE ENOUGH MONEY?
I put similar comments on an Instant News Katy reply a few years ago. They are still pertinent because our school district along with most of the other greedy ones in Texas are still embroiled in a law suit to get more money from the State. I have updated the statistics.
21. April 2011 at 4:21 pm Since the 2004-2005 school year, when Katy ISD was getting 28.7% of their total revenue from the State of Texas, mostly increases have been seen in the State’s contribution to our revenue. That’s not what the incumbent school board members or the superintendent will tell us, but look at these FACTS (my sources are the Katy ISD web site, links provided there, and the AEIS reports from TEA).
2004-2005
Total Revenue from all sources: $372,755,008
Revenue coming from the State: $106,992,247
Percentage of Total from State: 28.7%
2005-2006
Total Revenue from all sources: $411,762,743
Revenue coming from the State: $114,612,307
Percentage of Total from State: 27.8%
2006-2007
Total Revenue from all sources: $461,030,870
Revenue coming from the State: $162,763,562
Percentage of Total from State: 35.3%
2007-2008
Total Revenue from all sources: $508,476,714
Revenue coming from the State: $216,105,399
Percentage of Total from State: 42.5%
2008-2009
Total Revenue from all sources: $540,051,149
Revenue coming from the State: $210,251,108
Percentage of Total from State: 38.9%
2009-2010
Total Revenue from all sources: $572,334,109
Revenue coming from the State: $196,102,519
Percentage of Total from State: 34.2%
2010-2011 (Proposed Budget)
Total Revenue from all sources: $558,427,916
Revenue coming from the State: $221,780,025
Percentage of Total from State: 39.7%
2010-2011
Total Revenue from all sources: $573,951,951
Revenue coming from the State: $166,306,187
Percentage of Total from the State: 28.9%
2011-2012
Total Revenue from all sources: $598,261,562
Revenue coming from the State: $181,203,466
Percentage of Total from the State: 30.2%
2012-2013
Total Revenue from all sources: $590,511,460
Revenue coming from the State: $173,734,050
Percentage of Total from the State: 29.4%
2013-2014
Total Revenue from all sources: $632,585,167
Revenue coming from the State: $195,933,554
Percentage of Total from the State: 30.9%
It should have been abundantly clear to the superintendent and the Board that the drop in revenue from local taxes in 2011 meant they needed to cut back spending, which they didn’t do
, and consequently had to fire 300+ teachers.It would also appear that the lowering of all revenue over the last few years clearly reflects the overspending by the Federal Government. If the Federal overspending puts our country in an economic downturn, states have a hard time countering that especially with the current administration doing everything they can to undermine and eviscerate the Texas economy. Surely any sane person can see that reflected in his own personal budget.
No matter how much money school districts get from taxpayers at the local and state levels, they will spend what they get and always want more. When they can throw out a wish of list of preposterous amounts (over a billion dollars worth) for a proposed bond referendum (2014) to buy everything they ever wanted, we cannot expect them to be circumspect in their spending habits!
School districts, just like individual taxpayers, need to cut back, and live within their means and stop asking for more tax dollars.