The district just recently announced the passage of a nearly $900 million bond according to article in the Austin American Statesman by Melissa B. Taboada.1
I wonder where that money is going. I haven’t noticed any changes, have you?
It’s not the schools fault we can’t use independent bonds for anything other than what they were given to us for, those are the rules, it’s not like we can change them.
What do you mean they request bond money on silly things?
Tiny slow computers in metal crates are the best things we’ve ever had.
“The current system of school finance fails to address growth” Austin Independent School District board said in a report on October 24, 2011 over “Adoption of Resolution to Participate in School Finance Litigation and to Authorize Superintendent to Engage Thompson & Horton LLP Regarding Same”.2
Well I would have never guessed growth was a problem here, the parking lot is overflowing, the halls look like a slaughterhouse, and the class sizes are probably close to violating fire regulations.
Try to get 35 kids out a door in a minute while there’s a fire 10 feet away and someone’s either getting trampled, burned, or killed. But that is never going to happen, so why fix it?
This school was designed to provide education in Austin 25 years ago, when the population of Austin was 464,118 people. Now that population is 842,750, a 90% growth.3
That couldn’t have anything to do with our school though, could it?
Don’t worry; our student population definitely hasn’t increased with the city population. Circle C has only grown 154% in population since 1990.4
A dozen mobile homes should be enough to hold any extra students that do somehow make their way into our campus.
How about the buildings themselves, those are great too.
Oh the roof leaks when it rains, well cry me a river, like the ones that run through the halls when it rains.
We would love to have you over to visit our lovely campus littered with dried gum and rusty metal stairwells.
What about staffing?
Lets lay off more teachers too, that will greatly increase class sizes, giving kids less of a chance to have an education.
And don’t get me started on textbooks.
Did you want schoolbooks, well sorry, we kind of ran out. Lets not post the books online either, if you miss dog days, good luck passing class, it’s not our fault you can’t make the one chance you have all year to get your books.
Now, let’s get to the real world, the school has problems, and they need to be fixed.
I know it’s not easy to fix those problems, and I know it is not cheap, but solar panels aren’t cheap, iMacs aren’t cheap, and using a forest of paper a year isn’t cheap either, so what’s the big deal?
Oh, and you said the boys’ bathrooms don’t have doors in the stalls? So what if you can’t do your business in peace, it’s a bonding experience.

1 From Statesman.com
2 From Austinisd.org
3 From AustinTexas.gov
4 From homes.point2.com