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02/23/06 |
Response to Dallas
Morning News Poll |
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| "Texans Responsive to
School Spending" |
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Do you wonder how many of the 1482
respondents approved of the way the Dallas
Independent School District squanders taxpayer's money? I have noted
in the News tales of other
cities and
their dissatisfaction with their school
districts, too. Did the Dallas Morning News inquire about their
satisfaction with their school district too? |
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02/24/06 Dr. W. K.
Gordon, III:
If you check the comments on the DMN web site, the true
feelings of Texans will be seen.
As is often the case, the poll
results present a very suspect conclusion. Typically,
the questions are asked in a way that skews the results toward a
particular (wanted) result.
If the poll is accurate, it
doesn't say much for the intelligence of us Texans and makes you wonder
about what kind of education we are getting! |
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Texans receptive to school spending;
Exclusive: News poll reveals 52 percent willing to ante up more in state
taxes for education
Tuesday,
February 21, 2006
by CHRISTY HOPPE /
The Dallas Morning News |
ELECTIONS
'06AUSTIN – The majority of Texans, despite being tax leery and skeptical of
government spending, are willing to open their wallets to provide more money
for public education, according to a new statewide survey.
A poll conducted for The Dallas
Morning News shows that 52 percent of Texans say they would pay more in
state taxes if the money went to schools, while 39 percent oppose an
increase.
The majority disagree with Gov. Rick
Perry and House Speaker Tom Craddick, who have insisted that any plan that
lowers sky-high property taxes should only raise other taxes enough to
replace the lost revenue – a tax shift where schools would get little, if
any, new funding.
The telephone survey of
1,482 registered voters was conducted Feb. 9 to
15 by Blum and Weprin Associates Inc. of New York. The error margin is plus
or minus 3 percentage points, meaning the results could vary by that much in
either direction.
... On other issues of statewide interest,
Texans were evenly split on whether intelligent design – the theory that
life is so complex it must have originated from an intelligent force –
should be taught as a science in public schools along with evolution. And
they are similarly divided over whether a security fence should be erected
along the U.S.-Mexico border. ... |
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| I wonder how many of the 1482
respondents actually spent time with their
children to review their progress in school or have they abandoned their
responsibility in this to the school district? |
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| I wonder how many support
public schools by having their children in them as opposed to
private schools or demanding vouchers to take
them outside their school district? |
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| I wonder how
many of the respondents home-school their children
because of the excellence of their
public schools? |
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| I wonder how many of them would be
willing to forgo their homestead exemption or over 65 exemptions
on their property? |
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| I wonder how many of them have
businesses that outsource their workers not
because of the quality of education provided by public or
private schools but because of cheep labor? |
While I do support quality public schools,
I do not see how throwing more
money at them is going to solve the problem especially when the school
administrations are more interested in themselves and their perks.
The school districts are more concerned about
high school sports as opposed to academic excellence,
nor when business that speak out of the corners of
their mouths about a qualified educated work force
continue to seek cheap labor
by outsourcing jobs overseas.
The sad fact is that despite more money the level of education of today's
children will not improve. Only parental involvement by example and by
their oversight of their children will improve education.
Educators feel "more money"
will do the trick despite an oppressive property tax
burden. Educators are against any effort to mark school funds
toward being dedicated toward the classrooms. Mark my words that
increasing funding will not improve the education of Texas students.
If money will solve the education problem, how about
the educators (trustees and
administrators) give taxpayers a guarantee they will
return their salaries, retirement funds accumulated
during their entire tenure in office and perks to the
taxpayers and remove themselves permanently from any
and all school districts if the results are
not forthcoming?
"Oh, no! But, just a wee bit
more taxpayer money will solve the problem" after all
it is for the good of the students.
Texas taxpayers need a school property tax relief, a property tax
cut, a cap on the value the Appraisal
District can increase the value of our
homes to less than 5 percent and a guaranteed homestead exemption. It is
for the good of hard working taxpayers.
David W. Tuthill
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