2009 FBISD Tax Hearing (On YouTube)

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2009 FBISD CONTROVERSIAL TAX HEARING (YES THEY ARE RAISING THEM AGAIN--see petition of over 500 district taxpayers asking for board accountability) --In case anyone missed it they raised the property tax rate again (4th time) in 2010 and more than likely will do so again in 2011 facing another projected 15-20 million dollar budget deficit, according to some media reports. ***NEW*** ..Petition TO STOP THE GSTC (Global Science Museum being planned at the district central office--near $30 million dollar project that superintendent Jenney is pushing): http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopthegcst/ (see update below on this apparently ending this project after 2 years)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Chron: District Continues To Push For "Taj Mahal" Science Center At The Central Office!

Chron: *Love or hate the "global tech center" idea?
Zen Zheng

There were quite a few comments to my blog post in February about a "Global Center for Science and Technology" proposed by the Fort Bend school district. Some residents in the district also shared their feelings with me personally. Most who expressed their opinions to me and my blog have varying degrees of concern about the idea. . .

. . .Blog commenter "Roughneck Bob" had this to say:

I like the idea of the district building a science and technology center, but wonder how feasible it really is. Are the schools just going to load up groups of kids on buses to the science center 2 or 3 times a week for their "mandatory" instruction? If the committee can demonstrate to me that the proposed technology center will not be dormant most of the year than all for it.

Commenter named "anonymous" had this concern:

It seems ridiculous given the current economy to be asking tax payers to carry the burden of a building that students might see once in their schooling. Why not commit those dollars to classrooms?

Another commenter, "Nancy Hentschel," saw a deeper issue:

All the resources in the world won't solve our anti science, pro creationist orientation in Texas. The Texas Freedom Network has worked endlessly to correct this problem, but when the average Texan dismisses evolution as a "theory" in a way that they would never dismiss gravity as a "theory," then it can be no wonder that we have "educated" a generation of scientifically mixed up students. All of the money and all of the grand buildings will not put this science problem together again. Perhaps we need to teach the concept of science verses the concept of belief, before we spend any more money.

Some other folks in the community described to me the district's move as one to merely package the district into a "Kitschville," good to look at but not serving real purposes.

Get the full article at: http://blogs.chron.com/fortbend/archives/2009/03/love_or_hate_th.html#comments

8 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Area blog comments on this subject:

Blog commenter "Roughneck Bob" had this to say:

I like the idea of the district building a science and technology center, but wonder how feasible it really is. Are the schools just going to load up groups of kids on buses to the science center 2 or 3 times a week for their "mandatory" instruction? If the committee can demonstrate to me that the proposed technology center will not be dormant most of the year than all for it.
Commenter named "anonymous" had this concern:

It seems ridiculous given the current economy to be asking tax payers to carry the burden of a building that students might see once in their schooling. Why not commit those dollars to classrooms?
Another commenter, "Nancy Hentschel," saw a deeper issue:

All the resources in the world won't solve our anti science, pro creationist orientation in Texas. The Texas Freedom Network has worked endlessly to correct this problem, but when the average Texan dismisses evolution as a "theory" in a way that they would never dismiss gravity as a "theory," then it can be no wonder that we have "educated" a generation of scientifically mixed up students. All of the money and all of the grand buildings will not put this science problem together again. Perhaps we need to teach the concept of science verses the concept of belief, before we spend any more money.

Some other folks in the community described to me the district's move as one to merely package the district into a "Kitschville," good to look at but not serving real purposes.

Anonymous said...

"Some other folks in the community described to me the district's move as one to merely package the district into a "Kitschville," good to look at but not serving real purposes."--This is exactly what they are doing and if Jenney wants it he will have it along with the vendors.

Posted by: fbisdparent at March 10, 2009 10:00 AM

Doesn't sound like a feasibility committee to me. More like a sales group pitching this project to the public during tough economic times. What happened to the plan to seek other sources of funding? Why doesn't this committee sell it to private corporate concerns so they will kick in to build it rather than reproducing programs that already exist around the community at the administrative offices?

Posted by: anonymous at March 10, 2009 10:05 AM

Anonymous said...

I wonder who selected this special committee?

Posted by: SCEfam at March 10, 2009 10:41 AM

Here's an idea. Instead of building a "science center" that will hardly ever be used, why not turn that idea into a magnent high school for science and technology like HISD's HSPVA or the High School of Health Professions? That way, the facility would be put to full use, it would cater to the right kind of students they would want to attend the school (students interested in careers in science), and it would have application-based admission like a university, so Ft. Bend wouldn't have to worry about zoning regulations. They could also open the facility to younger students by hosting science/technology enrichment classes in the summertime.

Posted by: Kris M at March 10, 2009 11:50 AM

Anonymous said...

"Here's an idea. Instead of building a "science center" that will hardly ever be used, why not turn that idea into a magnent high school for science and technology like HISD's HSPVA or the High School of Health Professions? That way, the facility would be put to full use, it would cater to the right kind of students they would want to attend the school (students interested in careers in science), and it would have application-based admission like a university, so Ft. Bend wouldn't have to worry about zoning regulations. They could also open the facility to younger students by hosting science/technology enrichment classes in the summertime."

This is a much better idea when the economy improves and finding corporate partners to help finance it, rather than use the bond money that was already designated in the proposal for maintaining and improving the current campuses.

Did anyone ready those stories out of San Antonio involving the vendor for the district who is pushing this project in the link above in the original piece?

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/Judson_examines_its_legal_advice.html
Posted by: anonymous at March 10, 2009 12:54 PM

I heard that the global center would be used only once or twice by a student from 4th to 8th grade throughout a school year. I can't agree more with Kris M. on building a facility that can be used by all students and all the time -- if there is the money not at the burden of the distirct' taxpayers.

Posted by: Trish at March 10, 2009 01:56 PM

Anonymous said...

I just wonder why the district and board so often over budget the bonds and then place the excess into a special surplus fund (they call the fund balance) of nearly 100 million dollars. Why lie to the taxpayers about those funds when sticking us with the tab during these tight times and ever increasing property taxes?

Posted by: fbisdparent at March 10, 2009 03:12 PM

I think this center would be a colossal waste of money. If they were going to spend money on something that would get students more real-world ready, I'd say spend it on the Technology Education Center that they already have in the district. Make that bigger / develop its programs more. My son and daughter both attended there in the past and it really put them ahead in their college studies - AND they earned industry certifications too! Why spend money on something that most kids may only get to use once or twice, when the district could improve something that already works?

Posted by: JC at March 10, 2009 10:02 PM

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

In trying to keep on topic, but, I must ask for forgiveness up-front for having to take a slight detour to bring what I’m trying to say back on point with the stated topic.

In past years, the typical pursuit of lucrative paying careers has "not" been to pursue education and/or any job within education as a livelihood; however, as of late, it has been duly noted that there are, even, some attorneys who no longer work for law firms, and, have thus selected late in their respective careers to come to school districts to seek employment. Go Figure. I thought education did not pay like those lofty, lucrative law careers. What happened? So was education the “right college major” after all? Who would have thunk it? Do you think Little ole School Teachers got it right after all? Although The Teacher Retirement System has lost money, but it is still one of, it not the only solid retirement system left around. And if you are 55-60 years of age and come into education late and work a good 5-10 years, you still end up with a decent retirement, particularly if your rate of pay is more lucrative than the average classroom teacher; it could very well end up that a late career choice in education could end up paying better than an early career choice who chose the career field of education as an original career choice. It does not matter what your position is within a school district, the eventual retirement pension still comes from the "Teacher Retirement System".

Having stated the above, the plot thickens when you take a very close look at who some of legal hot shots associated with "said firm" of named familiarity and then think about where else have you noted those legal hot shots associated with "said firm" of named familiarity from the stories out of San Antonio.

As a closing sidebar, FBISD's Superintendent being already a retiree from another state will additionally do himself proud upon final retirement from the "Teacher Retirement System".