By Richard Zowie —
Fredericksburg Independent School District superintendent Dr. Eric Wright has a new title: salesman.
Wright will host a community information meeting on the $16.5-million bond issue election at 6 p.m. Monday, April 20, at the FHS Auditorium.
The superintendent will go over bond details and answer questions. The event is open to the public.
Wright has been speaking with civic groups for weeks to explain the bond issue. (The Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post reviewed details about the $16.5-million bond issue in its April 1 edition.)
For both the FISD trustees and the school bond elections, early voting will begin Monday, April 27 at the FISD administration building.
Election day will be Saturday, May 9, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Fredericksburg Middle School cafeteria.
Legislative update
Wright briefed the FISD trustees at their Monday night regular meeting about the Texas Senate and House legislative progress with education bills. The session is almost two-thirds complete, with 50 days left.
“They started off crawling, then strolling, jogging and now sprinting to the finish line,” Wright said.
So far, Wright noted, the Texas Senate has passed 229 bills out of committee, which will now go to the full senate.
The house has passed 362 bills out of committee, which will go to the floor.
Many are education bills.
“The house is very pro-public education, and the senate is anti-public education, for whatever reason,” Wright said. “I’m not here making a judgment, I’m just telling you how it’s unfolding at this point.”
Wright, who believes the house and senate will be able to meet in the middle, added that the senate is proposing an increase in the homestead exemption, which will cut $3 billion from education if that tax revenue is not replaced through other means.
“They haven’t figured out how they’re going to replace the money they plan on cutting, when there’s been an 80,000-student increase in Texas,” he said.
Wright added there was a voucher bill in the senate education committee that would take $100 million out of current education funding and pay tuition credits for vouchers for parents who choose to send their kids to private school.
“There’s a lot of debate on that,” Wright said. “The house is totally opposed. I don’t think it’ll gain much traction. I think there needs to be a mechanism in place for kids trapped in urban area schools that aren’t doing a very good job, but I don’t know if this is the answer.”
The superintendent feels some type of accountability system might be a better solution for such schools, where someone can take over the school and make improvements.
He pointed out that the average tuition rate for private schools in Texas is around $13,000 and vouchers would be for approximately $5,000. The parents of kids who need it usually can’t afford the other $8,000.
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