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Editorial: Humble ISD – Money poorly spent by Bobby Petty

Egberto Willies

I agree with most of what my friend Bobby Petty is articulating below. That said, teachers are severely underpaid and even a token raise of $600 a year or whatever it is will take a minute bite out of the inflation component. We need to hold the executives accountable.

Our form of compensation is based on implied worth. For too long we have given superior worth to those that move capital and manage but provide no other intrinsic value. It is that that we must fight. If we unleashed our disgust on the unworthy privileged few that monopolizes the country’s income at the expense of our children and families we would not have to lay off teachers, the bastions of our society.

Interesting enough most teachers in our area and likely around the country I would wager are women. With the draconian cuts we have in our state and local school budgets this makes our rally “Unite Against The War On Women” on April 28th at the Capitol in Austin is ever so prescient.

Editorial: Humble ISD – Money poorly spent by Bobby Petty

At a recent Humble ISD Council of PTAs meeting, Superintendent Dr. Guy Sconzo revealed that at the end of May, the school board will have to lay off 110 teachers because the district will not have the $5.5 million to keep the teachers in our classrooms. This could have been completely avoided, had the district placed children’s education first.

Despite running a $5 million deficit this year alone, Humble ISD received a budget windfall in August when the state of Texas refunded the district $9 million in tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ) funds. Instead of shrewdly allocating part of the TIRZ refund needed to keep the 110 Stimulus-funded teachers in the classroom, Dr. Sconzo and the school board gave all other district employees a $3.67 million retroactive pay raise.
Per employee, this retroactive pay raise averages to a mere $10 more per week. Funds that were frittered away on the retroactive pay raise could have instead funded most if not all of the $5.5 million needed to keep these 110 teachers in the classrooms. Hindsight is not 20/20 here, because Dr. Sconzo and the school board fully knew the May fate of these 110 teachers when they approved the frivolous retroactive pay raise in November.

Even more maddening is that the Humble ISD school board is currently considering an additional pay raise up to $8.3 million for all district employees in next year’s budget. This consideration persists despite mismanaging the budget to be $5 million in the red, and despite knowing that the district’s tax revenues are projected to remain flat-lined in the years ahead.
As punishment, Dr. Sconzo should be forced to personally hand each of these 110 teachers their pink slips come May to answer for his short-sighted November decision. And if he’s foolish enough to recommend an additional multi-million dollar pay increase in next year’s budget, Dr. Sconzo should also be forced to personally explain to each 160,000 Atascocita, Humble and Kingwood resident why they must all live within their means, while he thinks the district is above such economic budget realities.

Bobby Petty
Kingwood resident

My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
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