March 3, BISD meeting agenda
By Juan Montoya
There are not-too-distant rumblings in the horizon as the expected restoration of cuts made to education in Texas in 2010-2011 have not been offset by the anticipated boon to state school as a result of the boom in shale oil production.
Nowhere will that be felt more than in the Brownsville Independent School District, which is now forced to take a hard look at its budget projections and consider the painful prospect of personnel cuts in the professional and administrative ranks.
Some BISD staff and administrators estimate that as many as 200 teaching jobs may have to have to be shed to meet its budgetary constraints. They point to a yearly loss of the district's best students to charter schools and the South Texas School District.
"Last year we lost about 1,000 students and this year we're looking at losing another 1,000," said a BISD administrator. "These are the best of our students because the charter schools and the South Texas district recruit the top students in their classes."In 2011, when state revenue estimates were bleak, the Legislature chose to drastically cut funding to public education instead of exploring ways to increase revenue or tap the state’s Rainy Day Fund for the 2012-13 budget. The Legislature cut $4 billion from formula funding and over $1 billion from educational grants – primarily from programs that promote academic success for disadvantaged and at-risk student populations.
In real terms, these cuts translate to almost 21,000 fewer teachers and staff in our classrooms, three times as many over-crowded classrooms in 2011-12 as in the prior year, and six lawsuits filed against the state by parents,
districts and education advocates.
The 2014-15 budget provides $3.2 billion more in General Revenue to the Texas Education
Agency than the budget for the 2012-2013 biennium, but fails to raise per-student funding to
pre-recession levels.
The uncertainty regarding state funding and the expectations that the deep cuts that were not made up in the past biennium will not be offset with the 2014-2015 budget being considered by the state legislature is forcing the BISD to take a hard look at its expenditures. Yet, the lawyers won't get hurt because legal costs continue to spiral as outside legal counsel are hired to assist the district's general counsel and its legal staff.
Additionally, the district continues to dole out cash stipends to organizations like United Brownsville, a not-for-profit corporation that charges an annual $25,000 to eight publicly funded entities to "promote" education and economic efforts in the city. This year, United Brownsville mendicants were kind to the BISd and only asked for $20,000.
So far, its directors have not been able to show just what it is that United Brownsville does with the estimated $200,000 it collects yearly in "dues."
Additionally, the district continues to dole out cash stipends to organizations like United Brownsville, a not-for-profit corporation that charges an annual $25,000 to eight publicly funded entities to "promote" education and economic efforts in the city. This year, United Brownsville mendicants were kind to the BISd and only asked for $20,000.
So far, its directors have not been able to show just what it is that United Brownsville does with the estimated $200,000 it collects yearly in "dues."
United Brownsville is a domestic nonprofit corporation whose Coordinating Board is made up of three non-elected members. They are Rusteberg, former UTB President Juliet Garcia and UTB vice-president Irv Downing. This self-styled "coordinating board" directs how the pie is cut using – not their money – but the money they have managed to hoodwink elected bodies and other publicly-funded entities to from membership United Brownsville.
These entities – as we have pointed out before – are: the City of Brownsville, the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC), the Brownsville Independent School District, the Brownsville Navigation District, the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) and the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College."
Since 2009, this group and their willingly co-opted public officials have gone to the public-treasury well to strong-arm eight public entities for their $25,000 annual payment.
From 2009 to 2012 the public had shelled out $810,000. That doesn't include the $200,00 from 2013 and the $200,000 to be collected for 2014. All told, the taxpayers of Brownsville will have shelled out $1,210,000 to United Brownsville for the privilege of having a troika accountable to no one "implement" their dubious "plan.
These entities – as we have pointed out before – are: the City of Brownsville, the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC), the Brownsville Independent School District, the Brownsville Navigation District, the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) and the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College."
Since 2009, this group and their willingly co-opted public officials have gone to the public-treasury well to strong-arm eight public entities for their $25,000 annual payment.
From 2009 to 2012 the public had shelled out $810,000. That doesn't include the $200,00 from 2013 and the $200,000 to be collected for 2014. All told, the taxpayers of Brownsville will have shelled out $1,210,000 to United Brownsville for the privilege of having a troika accountable to no one "implement" their dubious "plan.
You cannot fire Rusteberg, Garcia or Downing.
Ultimately, this trio and their supportive players on the board of United Brownsville that includes a select number of hand-picked, like-minded social climbers who are members of the city commission, the port, PUB, the university and college, and the economic development entities. The aim is for this cadre of players to decide how they want the area to develop and to move the public assets to achieve their goals. Being astute (and scheming) business types, it is not surprising that the direction the area's assets are being moved will ultimately profit them and their friends.
Only one trustee on the BISD board – Catalina Presas-Garcia – voted against shelling out $20,000 to Brownsville's shadow government.
Ultimately, this trio and their supportive players on the board of United Brownsville that includes a select number of hand-picked, like-minded social climbers who are members of the city commission, the port, PUB, the university and college, and the economic development entities. The aim is for this cadre of players to decide how they want the area to develop and to move the public assets to achieve their goals. Being astute (and scheming) business types, it is not surprising that the direction the area's assets are being moved will ultimately profit them and their friends.
Only one trustee on the BISD board – Catalina Presas-Garcia – voted against shelling out $20,000 to Brownsville's shadow government.
11 comments:
The district is not in a financial constraint due to the state budget cuts. It all started when Zayas and Cortez depleted the fund balance and the general fund balance by $130+ million in two years. All given to their buddies including Joe Rodriguez $90,000 just because and the the continued unjustified pay adjustments to their buddies or to people to keep them quiet on a particular person's criminal background.
Therefore, don't blame the state cuts, blame zayas, cortz, Colunga, Aguilar, Chirinos, Escobedo, Lopez, Pena, Otis, Rodriguez and Elizondo for abusing our tax dollars!
Next thing you know, they will be charging employees a percentage to pay for their health insurance (which is what most public school districts and charter schools in Texas already do) then it will stop being an extra freebee for most employees that only pay a certain percentage for their family members but do not pay for their own insurance.
Who names the dudes on United Brville? What /who gives them the authority to collect 25 grand from political entities . Where does the collected tax money go ?
Projected cuts in librarians, counselors, and other jobs on campuses. Get rid of the people at the glass palace where there are so many under utilized positions. Don't touch the schools. Start at the top!
Get rid of all those athletic coordinators that do not teach. 3 coaches per high school, making over 50k, only coaching football and not teaching a single class. Is that cost effective?
Losing children to charter schools? Fix BISD. Focus on why parents are choosing a charter school.
It goes to their deep-pockets .
BISD just paid "la cuota" of 20G's to the local Cártel .
That's right start at the top with Alarcorn and Sauceda these were Minerva Pena's doing and illegally done.
People at the "glass palace" make over $65,000 on average. Unless you are a secretary or a custodian. How many of them are actually needed? Many of those people end up there because of a problem they had at a campus and had already been shift around that there was no other place to put them but at main office. There are many people working at curriculum that at one point were assistant principals, interim principals but did not make the cut because they were not friends of the right people. Athletic coordinators (old, fat men) who probably cannot run a mile on their own, make over $80,000 and spend off season "coordinating" *not doing anything, while the regular P.E. teacher has to put up with 40 kids minimum.
Charter schools make the parents accountable for their son/daughter behavior, homework, attire, attendance; charter schools use the faculty for lunch duty, use one or two security guards and definitely tell the parents "you dont like OUR RULES, you can get your child out and move the child to another charter or the regular school system". The regular schools system has security guards, security office, hall monitors and you still have fights, students stealing, destroying property, etc. Charter schools DO have special education curriculum, special needs certified teachers. BISD tolerates unruly kids, unruly parents, most teachers (most, not all) teachers do not speak up because eventhough they have not received a salary increase in two years, they are still one of the highest paid professions in South Texas (so they put up with it). It's not for the children, its for the MONEY$$$$ just ask the administrators and school boards.
Chirinos and Cesar are such dumbasses saying we need to cut the fat! Those two voted to hire and give their buddies hefty pay adjustments.
How stupid, no wonder the district is going bankrupted, look who's the budget chair. The same idiots that spent thousands and millions on security cameras at all the cafeterias and on tires, parts for buses that were obsolete all purchased by Chirinos. What a joke!!!
Chorines for Head Bus Driver.
Absolutely!
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