District Improvement Plan Review

            Funding is a hot topic in the state of Texas when it refers to education and this year it will be hotter than most.  Much of that is brought on by the lack of attention funding has received in the previous sessions in the state government.  In Salado ISD, a chapter 41 district, we receive 59% of our funds from local revenue, 36% from state and 5% from federal.  Our operating cost for a year is roughly 11.5 million dollars and we have a K-12 enrollment of 1357.  Broken down our cost per student is around $8500.  With that said, some of our students do not receive their share of those resources.  In a perfect world, we could consider giving that money to each student and telling them they are responsible for getting educated and you are free to get educated in any way you would prefer and in any discipline of your choice.  Now that is farfetched and poses a whole other set of problems but is that the only way you can have equality in education?

            As you would guess, Austin ISD has a much larger budget and I have not done the breakdown on the amount of money per student but I am sure it is somewhere in the ballpark.  Their district improvement plan is vast and covers many different goals of their district.  They have many more programs to support a large amount of students and these programs support students with many different needs.  Living close to Austin, I have been familiar with their district and the community.  The challenging part about Austin ISD is what also makes it great.  Being the state capitol has many perks and many opportunities to drive revenue into the district.  The downside is there is land in your district that is not taxable.  The University of Texas, Texas School for the Deaf and all of the land owned by the people of Texas is not available to be taxed which leaves the bulk of the responsibility on the home owners. 

            Both improvement plans have many differences but if you look closely they are very much alike.  Salado and Austin ISD have their children in mind when they set out to make their district better.  A budget for a district is much like the budget for your home.  You have bills that you must every month and year but what are your goals for your home and your family.  Is it a new car every four years or maybe paying off your home?  At the school district level, you have goals for your district and how to make it better.  Change is the only constant and if you are not improving your district then your district is stagnant.  Just paying the bills and the employees every year is not enough.  You must have goals, those goals must have a beginning and an ending and they must be measurable.  These goals cannot be nameless and faceless and must be accompanied by who is responsible for them and they must be data driven and open to the public.  The district site based committee should develop the district improvement plan so that there is buy in from the community and ownership of the district and its direction.  The improvement plan should include budget amounts and be considered transparent, as all things should be when dealing with community monies.  The improvement plan has a purpose and in my opinion is looked at as a burden more than a path.