School Board Vice Chairwoman Indya Kincannon put together some frequently asked questions about the school system's proposed budget. You can find it right smack here.
I don't think it's going to be any surprise if the school board tonight signs off on the zillion dollar spending plan. After that it will be in the hands of the County Commission.
Make no mistake, county Mayor Tim Burchett is NOT putting that request (It's actually a little more than $47 million in coin, with about $12 million of that attributed to natural growth) in his proposed budget. He's just not.
I don't expect the County Commission, which really controls the purse strings, to do anything, either. There's not six votes there right now. (And they'll need seven to override a mayoral veto.)
But, here's the thing, and School Board Lord Jim McIntyre reminded me about it yesterday.
A while back (Was in January?) the school board and county commission had a little powwow where the two sides agreed to make the Knox County school system “the best school system in the southeastern United States.
As McIntyre said: “That's a big deal; that's a high bar, also.”
Oddly enough, for all the complaining about how much this plan will cost, I haven't heard too many alternatives. Actually, I haven't heard any.
(And, based on the students' crappy test scores, it's obvious that the current system isn't working although I'm a firm believer that crap-parenting has a lot to do with that.)
So, right now it's looking like they either raise taxes to support the plan and their promise to make Knox County the best blah, blah, blah.
Or don't raise taxes and go back on your word.
Heh.
Kind of in a pickle.
Maybe Big Mac can explain how his results are so far . . . average ACT scores have gone down a full point since he came to town, Spending on the school system has tripled in the past 25 years and the number of students has only grown a net 1500. We spend $10K per student in places like Austin East and $4K in Farragut - compare the test scores.
ReplyDeletethe point is throwing more money will not create this "best in the southeast" school system. Turning an old train station into a STEM academy is a waste of money.
School board, Big Mac, commission, mayor - somebody needs to get creative. Picking the pockets of the taxpayers is not creative - it's lazy and predictable.
Well said Billy!
ReplyDeleteDueling banjo alert
ReplyDeletePeople like you do not want to support education with taxes, then complain about crime and the growing dependency on entitlement programs. We can't have it both ways people. Today, I get to read about business opportunities going to other counties...no education = no higher paying jobs. Do you want to supersize that???