60 Million Dollar Con Job?

[2020]

BSISD says they will need sixty million dollars to update elementary school campus’ and that is because they will have to comply with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). Oh what costs and pains those mean spirited disabled people have brought upon poor little big spring. Lets see, ADA was signed into law under George H. W. Bush in 1991 and it is just occurring to the enlightened members of the Big Spring School Board that even poor little big spring is required to follow the law. I suppose we can then assume that for the last 18 years BSISD has knowingly disregarded the law and if it were not for the US Justice Department investigation of the City of Big Spring, that disregard would continue today. This also does not speak highly of the caliber of people that have been elected to the BSISD Board, now or in the last eighteen years. Clearly these people are not intelligent enough to be making decisions for our children.

[westexan]

A little something we can expect for our 60 million.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/12/21/my_lazy_american_students/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1

[2020]

Thanks for the link but it does not seem related to the topic of estimating sixty million dollars for new schools and citing the Americans with Disabilities Act as the culprit for the high price. One might get the idea that you don’t care much for public education. But I am sure I could not be more wrong about that.

[westexan]

We are probably in agreement on much of what the BSISD is claiming 2020. The interjected link was just an addition to public education in general, and is not just a problem we suffer from here, it’s a disgrace nationally.
Previous post on this site reveal many concerns about BSISD. I believe yourself mentioned “academically unacceptable” as one. If spending 60 million will solve government school problems here, then I would like to sell some swamp land.
We have one of the highest tax rates in the state now and we are going to be handed another huge bond project., and I dare say it won’t be the last. Let all BSISD,City & Howard County employees (*ell, lets throw in all government workers locally) take a 25% pay cut and no pension contributions for the life of the bond and I might vote for it. Oh wait, didn’t the county just give pay raises. Oops!
They have let maintenance and upgrades (ADA compliance) get to a point where just starting all anew is their only option, or so they say. One example is the money spent on laptops should have gone towards roof repairs at the HS.
The solution of throwing money at something is always the answer for some.Tearing down what is old and building something new and shiny will make everything peachy. It’s for the children, don’t you know ( that is what I here far to often). I get the feeling the children are not always the primary concern , but excuses for other’s ineptitude.

This does not correlate directly but is an example of lofty ideas gone awry:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298es.html(executive summary)

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298.pdf(this is a bit lengthy, read the executive summary above if desired)

I want the best for our children for they are our future, but what has been developing in education from K thru University in the past few decades doesn’t assuage my concerns, it raises them.

[2020]

The slip of referring to public education as “government schools” may be indicative of a more serious Tea Bag problem, which I will venture to say you share with 20% of the United State population. That aside, BSISD was not talking about improving upon education in the district but rather creating a building boom, in what is know as “A One Bid Town”. And blaming the Americans with Disability Act as the sole cause for their outrageous estimate. If towns are only as good as the people that live in them, it only stands to reason that the schools are only going to be as good as the parents (or grand parents) who send their children to these schools. Clearly this town has a great many issues to conquer before anything about it begins to improve. To take seriously for even one moment, that local government workers should take a 25% salary reduction and give up a pension is not something a rational person would say or try to impose on a neighbor. Clearly you see (even your local) government as some kind of enemy that you want destroyed. I trust if you are collecting, Social Security, Medicare, a VA Pension, Aide for a Dependent Grand Child and receiving a local property tax rate discount, that you will be willing to donate 25% of your welfare income toward the betterment of your local community. Did that sound just as outlandish and mean spirited as your asking the garbage collector, the policeman and firefighter to do?

[westexan]

I have now come to the conclusion your Post was nothing more than a Bait. It appears that some are upset that they are not in control to decide on spending matters and maybe we should be spending 10x’s of current levels; instead of 60M Bond we will have a 600M Bond. The current leaders are quite upsetting at times; but, if this poster has to choose between a RINO & a Statist, I’ll choose the RINO every time.

Originally, just trying to add a little input gathered your ire and started the personal attacks, if that is the case then here.

No slip of the keyboard . If they are not government schools then what are they?

The derogatory and vulgar term used by you and another on this site in no way defers from what concerned taxpayers nationwide are expressing. Could it be you support a previous President who used that term to denigrate the activist and during his tenure turned a women’s surname into a verb? If one needs clarification on “tea bag” or “tea baggers” privately e-mail Anderson Cooper on CNN; he’ll clarify.

No property tax relief or discount for this concerned citizen. Since ‘07 I have paid an increase of over 250% in taxes on certain properties in Howard Co. . I know of individuals locally that have alarming stories of the local appraisal district and their refusal to even consider tax negotiations. If Government workers see pay raises during these times and I see tax increases that is outlandish and mean spirited. Destroy government, No. Lessen it, Yes.

Oh, it’s United States not United State (hidden agenda?).
The Herald article stated ADA compliance as the SOLE cause?

I learned long ago when to stop an argument with certain people, so Bye on this thread for me. Comrade!

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” -- Thomas Jefferson

[RightWriter]

The district has wasted over 3 million dollars in the last three years on a new track, laptop computers, and fancy buses.

[RightWriter]

I predict the school bond will pass by a large margin. With the lack of an organizes opposition and the voting block of school employees and their circle of influence, we are in for some more waste and higher taxes.

[*!*]

Moving Memorial Stadium? viewtopic.php?f=2&t=571

[*!*]

Illegal dumping of Big Spring ISD track debris?
http://www5.tceq.state.tx.us/oce/waci/i ... cid=139177
If this is true, why wasn't the stuff taken to the landfill?

[Iseeutoo]

Sounds like a contractor trying to maximize profits by not having to pay landfill fees. I hope there are some fines given. The county should be able to fine them for illegal dumping. The land owners should be able to force them to remove the debris and pay damages.

[*!*]

Would we benefit from Citizens Bond Oversight Committees in our area? Note the term limits.
GROSSMONT ANNOUNCES OPENING ON CITIZENS BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/2063
(excerpt) October 13, 2009 (La Mesa)--The Grossmont Union High School District is seeking applications to fill an opening on the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC). The CBOC is responsible for implementation of Proposition H, the $274 million general obligation bond measure passed in 2004 to bring facility improvements and renovations to the district’s schools. In addition, the CBOC also oversees Proposition U, the $417 million general obligation bond measure passed in 2008 to substantially complete modernization of all District schools, provide classrooms and equipment for Career Technical Education, and construct a new high school in the Alpine/Blossom Valley area. The appointee will serve a two-year term beginning November 2009 in the capacity of “Community Member-at-Large” and will be eligible for a second two-year term.