Before hearing details for a proposed deficit budget on Monday, Fort Bend Independent School District Board President Bob Broxson slammed the Texas Legislature for putting school districts in a fiscal hole.
"This year, in a move that I can see as having very little logic or justification, the legislature has put us and other school districts between a rock and a hard place with regard to funding," Broxson said, in a statement he read at the beginning of a Monday afternoon FBISD budget workshop.
Later in that workshop, FBISD Chief Financial Officer Tracy Hoke presented a proposed 2009-2010 budget including a deficit nearly twice as big as last year's - $18.7 million.
"Districts in our area are considering drastic measures just to break even. One district had been considering the repeal of its homestead exemption in order to avoid a massive budget deficit," Broxson said.
"This year the state of Texas is requiring Fort Bend ISD to give teachers, counselors, nurses, librarians and speech pathologists a raise that will be approximately $1,000," he added. "There was no consideration given to other employees that make up more than 50% of FBISD's employees. This raise is not funded by the state, but is mandated to be taken out of the 'funding formula' approved by the legislature."
Democrats were probably not great on this matter, either -- as far as fiscal responsibility goes... That said, Texas Republican leaders continue to time and again tout their "records" of fiscal responsibility, yet we continue to see cracks in their painted picture. They are not as fiscally conservative as they would like us to think.
