RRISD Super Super Won't Take Pay Cut

Most of us in the private sector have been making adjustments to withstand the national economic downturn. Actual unemployment is over 16%, and many of those employed have seen incomes reduced significantly.  Now taxpayers who have been tightening the budget belt are expecting government to do the same, and Texas legislators are working to cut excess.

One person who won't be feeling any financial pain however, is Round Rock Independent School District Superintendent Jesus Chavez.  Last week the RRISD board voted to extend the Super Super's contract by one year at the exact same salary as last year, $252,875.  It seems his benefits, which totaled about $303,375 in 2010, will remain the same as well.  While we had hoped Jesus Chavez would follow Leander Superintendent Bret Champion's noble example in taking a $20,000 pay cut and reduced benefits, it seems Chavez prefers to keep his salary at $102,000 more than the Governor's. 

Sadly, many of our RRISD Board members voted for this status quo contract extension because they were told a 'no' vote would be a vote of 'no confidence' in the Superintendent.  One member, however, refused to play the game.  Trustee Terri Romere cast the only nay vote, saying that while she approved of the Superintendent's performance, she did not think the compensation package fiscally responsible in light of coming budget cuts. 

This blog is probably one of the few places you will read about the Superintendent's new contract; it seems Jesus Chavez prefers to keep the hostages front and center, as demonstrated when he notified 234 first-year teachers they would not have jobs next year.  Never mind that Round Rock Independent School District has $198 MILLION in its own rainy day fund, never mind that the District only spends 36.8% of revenue on instruction, never mind that only 53.8% of District staff are teachers.

Even though our local newspaper omits relevant information about the District's reserve funds, it is my hope that these teachers slated for lay-offs will push back against the Administration.  (The fact that Teacher Union politics is forcing Districts to keep terrible teachers while firing new and enthusiastic teachers is a whoooole 'nother blog post.)  It's really too bad the Superintendent prefers to manipulate the situation for maximum emotional and political impact, while his own household economy continues to enjoy prosperity on the backs of taxpayers and teachers. 

Planned Parenthood Does Not Provide Comprehensive Healthcare

Knowing that most Americans are not excited about contributing funds for abortions, Planned Parenthood and other abortion 'clinics' prefer to hide behind an alleged concern for 'women's health.'  These groups would have us believe they are on the forefront of providing health care for poor women,  however, this is a vile deception and conceals the true nature of the industry.

Abortionists have found one of the most successful avenues for channeling both charity and tax dollars to already profitable abortion businesses, is via funds for breast cancer.  Many of us have mothers, sisters, and friends who have faced breast cancer, and on an emotional basis we willingly fund anything that claims to fight the disease.  By claiming to help in this and other women's health issues, Planned Parenthood Texas receives approximately $5 million from the state Medicaid Women's Health Program.  (Planned Parenthood receives another $12 million from the state in 'family planning' funds.)  Komen for the Cure, which purportedly exists to help prevent and cure breast cancer, gave Planned Parenthood  more than $730k in donations in 2009, and provided approximately  $3.3 million between 2004 and 2009.

So how many mammograms does Planned Parenthood Texas provide for poor women each year?  Apparently none.  While mammograms are considered an essential tool for early detection, clinics must be licensed to own the necessary equipment and perform the tests.  Of all the Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in Texas, not a single one has either license or equipment for mammograms. 

Furthermore, while Planned Parenthood claims to provide women's health services other than abortion, the only time patients see an actual doctor is during the abortion procedure.  There is no doctor-patient interaction or consultation, and few if any of these 'doctors' even have privileges at nearby hospitals.  For the most part the abortion doctors are circuit riders who travel between the 43 licensed Texas abortion clinics performing these essential women's health 'operations,' or more accurately, destroying their unwanted unborn children. 

At the end of this week, the Texas House will begin debating the budget bill (HB 1).  The bill includes funds for both the Medicaid Women's Health Program and 'family planning' services.  Planned Parenthood is slated to receive anywhere from $12-17 million of these women's health dollars (abortion alternatives will receive zero funding,) but abortion makes up 98% of their services.  Rather than continue to allow funds to flow to profitable abortion businesses, lawmakers ought to send those funds to facilities that provide a more comprehensive women's health plan, and actually allow a woman to see a doctor.

Proposed Changes to Williamson County SBOE District

Will Lutz has a new post at the Lone Star Report Blog regarding the new maps proposed by House Redistricting Committee Chair Rep. Burt Solomons.  For the most part, the proposal retains the status quo, however it does include changes for SBOE District 10, which includes all of Williamson County.

According to Lutz:

District 10 (incumbent Marsha Farney, R-Georgetown): The Solomons map redraws this district as a Central Texas district, and that likely favors the incumbent who is well known in Williamson County. Added to the district are McLennan, Bell, Burnet, and Blanco Counties. Taken out of the district were Fort Bend County and a series of counties between Austin and Houston. The prior incumbent, Cynthia Dunbar, was from Fort Bend County, but she declined to seek re-election in 2010, and the district went back to its initial Central Texas orientation.

As expected, certain Democrats are already gearing up to opposed the map.  Rep. Alberto Alonzo (D-Dallas) has called for re-drawing the 15 districts so as to include more "Latino representation."  Considering all the new Republican Latinos, I think what he really means is that he wants more liberal Democrat Latino representation.

Redistricting and Williamson County

State lawmakers have been grappling with the budget and Governor Perry's emergency items so far this year, but soon Spring will turn our fancy to redistricting. The Texas Legislative Council has been busy examining new census data, and there seems to be some very interesting developments for Williamson County.

The ideal size for Texas House districts is 167,637 and both Williamson County districts far exceed that number. District 20, represented by Republican Charles Schwertner, is over by 60,454. District 52, represented by Larry Gonzales, also Republican, is over by 51,708. The combined overages in Williamson County alone are nearly enough for a whole new district.  House District 54, which includes parts of Bell, Burnet, and Lampasas counties and represented by Republican Don Aycock, is over the ideal size by 28,815.  So if we combine the surplus of all three, we come to a near perfect 169,792. 

The likely result is that we will see three districts; one going West to capture the District 54 surplus, one pushing out to the East and including parts of Districts 20 and 52, and one centered in Round Rock.  While the final district maps will likely retain districts for both Gonzales and Schwertner, the third Wilco-based district will present some interesting opportunities.  I have no doubt that there are potential candidates on both sides of the aisle watching redistricting developments very closely.

Reduced Pay for School District Superintendents

While many districts are under heavy criticism for giving their already highly-compensated superintendents raises while laying-off teachers, Leander ISD has proposed reducing Super Brett Champion's pay/benefits by $20,000. This is only one of many proposals to cut LISD spending; combined with other proposals, the cuts would come to more than $20 million. Champion has pointed out that this is a "worst-case scenario based on the information we currently have from the state."

As part of the proposed cuts more than 200 employees would lose their jobs; news reports are saying the lost jobs are teachers, but to be accurate many are actually teacher 'support' staff. It really is too bad that so much of precious education dollars went to state-of-the art sports stadiums and the $117 million new High School. Yes, yes, I know, we're not supposed to consider those things; they are completely separate.  At the end of the day, however, I think parents and taxpayers would much rather see the teachers funded.

Hopefully some of our surrounding districts will follow suit and reduce astronomical administrative salaries. One measure the Lone Star Foundation has called for in their new report Bridging the Budget Gap, is to prohibit districts from paying superintendents more than the Governor.  Round Rock Independent School District Super Jesus Chavez's base salary is $252,875, but with benefits/bonuses he received over $303,000 in 2010. (Not including the illegal bonus from last Fall, which reputedly he will pay back to the district.)  Like many superintendents in Texas, he is more highly paid than any governor in the United States.   

I guess the question is, "What will Jesus do?"

Community Forum on Leander ISD Finances

In response to the fiscal challenges facing troubled Leander Independent School District, several local residents and community leaders have organized a special discussion forum. While all of the community meetings/discussions regarding LISD til now have been orchestrated by either the school board or left-leaning pro-tax groups, this forum will approach the issues from a fiscally conservative point of view. The group plans to discuss the Superintendent's budget recommendations and developments in the State Legislature, and Representative Charles Schwertner (R-TX House District 20) will address the group.

The Forum is scheduled for Wednesday, March 23, at 7 pm, at the Northview Community Church (1204 W. Whitestone Blvd.) in Cedar Park. Leander ISD residents are invited to attend.

From Agenda Wise: The Texas Manifestation of Wisconsin

Agenda Wise Reports has a great video up today that was taken at the Save Texas Schools rally in Austin last Saturday.  In addition AWR has analyzed the mainstream media coverage of the event, and found it lacking.