elpasospeak

A friend helped me to crystalize my thinking about what may be the largest problem with the EPISD bond approach.

The district tells us that they need money to close some schools and expand others so that the students from the closed schools have a place to learn.  Student enrollment in the district has been shrinking and we are told that a large part of the problem is that homeowners are moving to the perimeters of the city and thus to different school districts.

Run away

The district’s solution is to run away from the problem instead of fixing one of the fundamental reasons for the moves.

Those of us who are, or who have been, parents of school age children know that one of the prime considerations in buying a house is the quality of the school that the children will attend.   Some of us know younger parents who at one time lived in older neighborhoods and then moved into newer neighborhoods just as their children started to attend school.  They moved because of their perception that the educational opportunities in the newer neighborhoods were better than in the old.

Unfortunately these younger parents were right.

Instead of investing in existing schools to see to it that they are up to standard the district has decided to run away from them.

It’s not the shiny building

As the students from Chapin told the district’s facilities advisory committee the other day, they are more concerned about having better programs and teachers than they are better buildings.

Our housing authority is fighting to provide low cost housing for those that need it.  One of their methods is to see to it that they build facilities where the existing infrastructure of the neighborhood can support their housing.

Race to the bottom

The path that the district is on will lead to more and more declines in student enrollment.  They need to fix our existing schools and encourage in-fill activity.  We will see the benefits in many ways as we need fewer new fire stations, police, and other public facilities.

We deserve better

Brutus

EPISD seems to be involved in a publicity campaign that tries to tie the bond issue to their past problems that have led to a lack of public trust.

It is probably fair to conclude that most voters do not see the current board of trustees in the same negative light that we saw past boards.  The new board seems to be working hard to provide better educations to our children.  Thankfully they appear to be doing it honestly.  Contacts within the district tell us that there is a much stronger sense of “obeying the rules” in the rank and file of the organization.

The anticipated bond issue will not hinge on a matter of trust in the integrity of the current board.

Belief

The bond issue’s approval or failure will hinge on whether the voters believe that the district and it’s staff can handle such a massive construction budget effectively.

Unfortunately we have seen countless bond fiascos lately at the city, county, and hospital district.  Even the most optimistic of us are learning that large, long-term bond issues are not handled well by our local governments.

At the school district we see that they are still trying to manage the funds that we gave them in a bond issue in 2007.

If it takes 10 years to spend any bond money that we might give them this fall,  we will have an entirely new board–a board that is not committed to spending the money the way we voted by the time they get around to spending this new money.

Downsizing

Many voters feel that the district needs some bond money, but not the blank check that ends up getting issued when managing bond projects that span many years.

Once again let’s make the point that if the district were to pick a few projects that were based upon most urgent need and ask for bond money for those projects only, the voters would be more inclined to approve the bonds.

This is not about feeling sorry for the current board or administration.  This is about common sense.

We deserve better

Brutus