The Superintendent of AISD issued a vaguely worded threat today;
At a speech Tuesday morning Austin schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said that she would not propose job cuts, declare a financial emergency or call an election to raise property taxes in the coming year as long as the school board and employees continue to ‘hold the line” on some of the tough decisions made this year.
The All Staff Convocation, streamed live to schools across the district from the Preas Theater at Austin High School, was the third such speech in Carstarphen’s three-year tenure – and the second virtual one. Teachers reported to their campuses this week. The first day of school is Monday.
“Hold the line” means sticking to the school closings and teacher layoffs that were proposed last year. A plan that is mapped out here;
An AISD task force of district staffers, parents and community members has identified nine schools that could be closed or revamped to help the district run more efficiently: Barton Hills, Brooke, Joslin, Oak Springs, Ortega, Pease, Sanchez and Zilker elementary schools and Pearce Middle School.
On January 25, Becker, Blackshear, Dawson and Govalle elementary schools were added to the list for consideration.
Under the proposals, the first schools could close in 2012-13.
I find it quite telling that all of the schools (but one, and that one in downtown) are in South and East Austin. As usual, Terrytown gets what it wants, and the rest of us must suffer for them.
But we’re in a budget crisis, we have to cut somewhere!? Budget crisis? Here’s my opinion on the subject.
Fire every non-teaching employee above principle. If you want to work for the school district and not teach, we’ll accept your charitable donation of time, just like the board members (this goes double for the Superintendent and her assistants) If you want to keep your job at the school district and get paid, you better find a class that you can teach. We should only be paying people to staff the schools themselves, and sell those multi-million dollar facilities that the district occupies downtown. Should more than make up the shortfall. Want to tighten belts? Tighten your own first, or face a vengeful public.
Nothing worse than a bunch of hogs, lording it over the rest of the farm animals, telling the rest of us how we need to make sacrifices. You first.
