This is inevitable in an industry that largely is run by people that have little to no real world experience in any capacity outside of the education bubble and whom put so much stock into degrees and certs versus actual hands on experience.

The vast majority of the education system is run by left leaning people to begin with, most of whom, if we are to be brutally honest, would not make it very far in any system outside of state education. Few have ever had to truly manage a workforce, have had to deal with budgets, hit production numbers or goals or worked in a system that isn't protected by government umbrellas. There is almost no accountability for failing to do your job as an administrator, and there is also very little incentive for doing a better job as an administrator on the flip side.

Throw in the current dynamic where teachers and, to some degree, administrators are also leaving the system because of politics, parents, students and actually seeing that the overall system is crumbling around them and you are left with less and less talent year in and year out for the most part.

Look how many administrators are in the district each making $100,000 plus. Cut about half out and you can solve the transportation issue.

My kids have gotten a good education so far in their little Cy Fair bubble. My wife is a Cy Fair teacher. The amount of BS these teachers have to put up with is absolutely insane. 9 figure budget deficit and we got Willy Wonka dancing around on stage and teachers being told they need to upgrade their entire wardrobes to more business dress…like either is going to help educate kids.

Glad it's my kids last year. And really just half year...

It's horsesh*t

We went private this year (5th, 2nd, PK3) and loving every minute. Wife resigned and teaching private now. She received more support today from her admins than 14 years combined in cfisd.

All those 'bonds' should have never been pushed and they lived the fat cat life with pandemic spending and continued that level of spending knowing it was coming to an end.

How do you go 140M in deficits. That's not just overpaid admins.

I reminder the good ole days where the biggest problem was who got caught smoking in the boys bathroom or under the bleachers. And if it was hot on the Bus just lower the windows.

Dan Scott said:

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How do you go 140M in deficits. That's not just overpaid admins.

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Football stadiums, basketball arenas, and Taj Mahal district HQ.

Only thing left to do is have the Cy Fair administrators go on a junket to Europe and see how they run their schools.

Supe has two graduate degrees from A&M. If you're in a profession where you're a man dressing up like a GD Ronald Dahl character as a means of communicating with subordinates, you deserve an ass whipping.

The belief that budgets in education can't be cut is what leads to bigger problems.

schmellba99 said:

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This is inevitable in an industry that largely is run by people that have little to no real world experience in any capacity outside of the education bubble and whom put so much stock into degrees and certs versus actual hands on experience.

The vast majority of the education system is run by left leaning people to begin with, most of whom, if we are to be brutally honest, would not make it very far in any system outside of state education. Few have ever had to truly manage a workforce, have had to deal with budgets, hit production numbers or goals or worked in a system that isn't protected by government umbrellas. There is almost no accountability for failing to do your job as an administrator, and there is also very little incentive for doing a better job as an administrator on the flip side.

Throw in the current dynamic where teachers and, to some degree, administrators are also leaving the system because of politics, parents, students and actually seeing that the overall system is crumbling around them and you are left with less and less talent year in and year out for the most part.

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Is the board left leaning? Maybe spend less time banning books?

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/2024/05/14/487482/transparency-questioned-after-cy-fair-isd-trustees-vote-to-remove-textbook-chapters/

drumboy said:

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schmellba99 said:

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This is inevitable in an industry that largely is run by people that have little to no real world experience in any capacity outside of the education bubble and whom put so much stock into degrees and certs versus actual hands on experience.

The vast majority of the education system is run by left leaning people to begin with, most of whom, if we are to be brutally honest, would not make it very far in any system outside of state education. Few have ever had to truly manage a workforce, have had to deal with budgets, hit production numbers or goals or worked in a system that isn't protected by government umbrellas. There is almost no accountability for failing to do your job as an administrator, and there is also very little incentive for doing a better job as an administrator on the flip side.

Throw in the current dynamic where teachers and, to some degree, administrators are also leaving the system because of politics, parents, students and actually seeing that the overall system is crumbling around them and you are left with less and less talent year in and year out for the most part.

---

Is the board left leaning? Maybe spend less time banning books?

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/2024/05/14/487482/transparency-questioned-after-cy-fair-isd-trustees-vote-to-remove-textbook-chapters/

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The Cy fair board has never been left leaning. Despite what the PACs that supported the current board members fear mongered the last two elections.

The bond money can't be used for everyday funds it mainly has to be used for construction projects. The tax rate is broken into two parts Maintenance and Operations (teacher salaries, keep lights on, etc) and Interest and Sinking (money to pay down bonds). Can't take money out one to pay for the other.

Main reason for deficit is Abbott is withholding money from the schools till he gets his school voucher program approved.

The district is too damned big. They have to be over 100 schools now, if not close to it. You simply cannot effectively manage that many administrators, faculty, students, etc. without running into serious challenges. These mega districts are a really big problem. Also, $500K for the CFISD superintendent? GTFO.

You gotta be smarter than that and recognize the optics.

Using buses to transport teachers to an expensive, unnecessary event in a year you are cutting bus service to students is just completely tone deaf.

Not to mention ... convocations seem like a relic from the past. Especially for these giant districts with thousands of employees.

Public school convocations are cringe already. This one was a completely over the top gaudy boondoggle.

Dan Scott said:

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How do you go 140M in deficits. That's not just overpaid admins.

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All Texas public school districts are facing deficits this year. The state of Texas hasn't increased the student allotment paid per student in over 5 years while the cost of maintenance has gone up significantly since then. Then you add in that Texas lawmakers passed a bill that increases the amount of taxes each homeowner is exempt from paying to local tax authorities.

Now how did Cy-Fair get into THAT large of a deficit while other surrounding districts aren't close to that number despite going through similar growth? That is a question for the board which has been focused on book content and social issues rather than running a district that has a budget of a large corporation.

this is true. SBISD has a $35M shortfall as well.

The magnitude of the CFISD shortfall likely has a lot to do with it being 4 times as large as SBISD.

Conroe is $12 million short, and Tomball is $9 million. Katy's is $25.5 million and Klein's is $36 million.

stevopike said:

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The bond money can't be used for everyday funds it mainly has to be used for construction projects. The tax rate is broken into two parts Maintenance and Operations (teacher salaries, keep lights on, etc) and Interest and Sinking (money to pay down bonds). Can't take money out one to pay for the other.

Main reason for deficit is Abbott is withholding money from the schools till he gets his school voucher program approved.

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Ahh yes, blame the fact that a whole lot of taxpayers and voters want accountability in the education system for the fact that the education system is incapable of operating on financially sound principles.

And if the state is witholding so much money that the district is running a $140MM negative balance, the issue is far beyond what the state is supposedly witholding.

There is a lot of to blame, and the state certainly has its fair share of it (mostly with recapture), but this line of thinkng above is just garbage and dumb.

cajunaggie08 said:

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Dan Scott said:

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How do you go 140M in deficits. That's not just overpaid admins.

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All Texas public school districts are facing deficits this year. The state of Texas hasn't increased the student allotment paid per student in over 5 years while the cost of maintenance has gone up significantly since then. Then you add in that Texas lawmakers passed a bill that increases the amount of taxes each homeowner is exempt from paying to local tax authorities.

Now how did Cy-Fair get into THAT large of a deficit while other surrounding districts aren't close to that number despite going through similar growth? That is a question for the board which has been focused on book content and social issues rather than running a district that has a budget of a large corporation.

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You know what for profit corporations, mom and pop businesses and people do when costs increase faster than income?

Cut budgets. Stop spending on stupid and frivilous things. Don't go out and get massive loans that will need to be repaid to spend on things that can be delayed until finances are in stronger and healthier positions.

But not government. Nope, government spends like drunken sailors at all times because there is literally no incentive for them to be fiscally responsible or good stewards of taxpayer money. Their mentality is that they can just go back to the well and demand more.

But it's a lot easier to point the finger at everything other than the fact that you have had absolute sht for money management internally and blame things like the board wanting to not have kindergartners read books about gay sex instead of focusing on the superintendent and admin who have done a piss poor job and whom most likely have neglected to convey a whole lot of information to the board and public in general.

schmellba99 said:

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stevopike said:

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The bond money can't be used for everyday funds it mainly has to be used for construction projects. The tax rate is broken into two parts Maintenance and Operations (teacher salaries, keep lights on, etc) and Interest and Sinking (money to pay down bonds). Can't take money out one to pay for the other.

Main reason for deficit is Abbott is withholding money from the schools till he gets his school voucher program approved.

---

Ahh yes, blame the fact that a whole lot of taxpayers and voters want accountability in the education system for the fact that the education system is incapable of operating on financially sound principles.

And if the state is witholding so much money that the district is running a $140MM negative balance, the issue is far beyond what the state is supposedly witholding.

There is a lot of to blame, and the state certainly has its fair share of it (mostly with recapture), but this line of thinkng above is just garbage and dumb.

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Texas is $4000 below the national average on spending per student. Cy-Fair has around 118,000 students. If Texas increased the per-student allotment by an additional $4000 that is $472 Million. If Texas just paid the national average none of these districts would be facing deficits. Texas has a $32.7 BILLION surplus in its budget right now. If you ask me, they could increase educational spending without even raising taxes. They just have chosen not to without allowing private corporations and schools access to state funds

schmellba99 said:

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cajunaggie08 said:

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Dan Scott said:

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How do you go 140M in deficits. That's not just overpaid admins.

---

All Texas public school districts are facing deficits this year. The state of Texas hasn't increased the student allotment paid per student in over 5 years while the cost of maintenance has gone up significantly since then. Then you add in that Texas lawmakers passed a bill that increases the amount of taxes each homeowner is exempt from paying to local tax authorities.

Now how did Cy-Fair get into THAT large of a deficit while other surrounding districts aren't close to that number despite going through similar growth? That is a question for the board which has been focused on book content and social issues rather than running a district that has a budget of a large corporation.

---

You know what for profit corporations, mom and pop businesses and people do when costs increase faster than income?

Cut budgets. Stop spending on stupid and frivilous things. Don't go out and get massive loans that will need to be repaid to spend on things that can be delayed until finances are in stronger and healthier positions.

But not government. Nope, government spends like drunken sailors at all times because there is literally no incentive for them to be fiscally responsible or good stewards of taxpayer money. Their mentality is that they can just go back to the well and demand more.

But it's a lot easier to point the finger at everything other than the fact that you have had absolute sht for money management internally and blame things like the board wanting to not have kindergartners read books about gay sex instead of focusing on the superintendent and admin who have done a piss poor job and whom most likely have neglected to convey a whole lot of information to the board and public in general.

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While this willy wonka comencement was stupid, what else can schools cut without breaking state and federal laws? Texas teachers are already paid near the bottom in the nation. If you cut aid and support staff, your poor paid taeachers are gonna reach a breaking point and leave so now you have to go out and hire even less experienced staff. The major bonds (loans) are things the public votes for. Sure they can chose not to propose a bond, but suburban school districts are growing at a rate that they have to build new facilities otherwise they'll have severely overcrowded schools and break laws about classroom sizes.

So yea, its easy to sit there and say they all need to cut budgets, but when youve been told to cut budgets by the state for years and years and years while you have zero control on the "income" side of things, the system eventually just breaks.