When Leander ISD homeowners and taxpayers are being asked to put their property up as collateral for an additional half-billion dollars of debt, they have a right to ask what they are getting for the $70,000.00 per student of debt service for which they are already obligated.
Perhaps a good start would be to pose a few fundamental questions to Leander ISD board members and teachers:
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- What do you believe is the purpose of education?
- How do you define an educated person?
- Who should bear the responsibility of educating children?
- Are standardized test scores and number of high school diplomas awarded true metrics of learning and preparation?
The Texas Education Code states:
Educators will prepare students to be thoughtful, active citizens who have an appreciation for the basic values of our state and national heritage and who can understand and productively function in a free enterprise society.
Texas Education Code, Title 2, Subtitle A, Chapter 4. Sec. 4.001 (b) Objective 5
What could be a more compelling metric of determining whether Leander ISD has been preparing students to be “…thoughtful, active citizens…” than the voting activity of students and recent Leander ISD graduates?
Based on Early Voting activity for the November 7th bond election, Leander ISD gets a grade of Zero.
Not a D.
Not an F.
But a big fat Zero.
Less than .5 of 1% of 18-25 year-olds who are registered to vote within Leander ISD have voted in this election. Statistically zero.
Put another way, only 1 of every 238 registered voters 18-25 years of age know how to find their way to a Vote Center or even understand or care about the long term implications of debt on them and their children, whether they be renters or homeowners. Sadly, their parents and elders are not faring much better with a 3.54% Early Vote turnout.
Besides outside special interest groups, the big winners in this election are ignorance and apathy with a 96% turnout.
Another $454,400.000.00 is a big price to pay for more of the same.
Copyright © 2017 Don Stroud
#NoLeanderISDbonds