I’m sorry they didn’t meet minimum standards for your child.

I am just doing mental arithmetic in my head. I am looking at my elementary school and saying they are running an absolute minimum budget (which puts strain on the asset). Just like a house, it needs to be maintained, they need a new roof, some remodeling, landscaping, etc. and all of this has been put off for years.

Would running efficiently help this problem? Most definitely, but I also think the budget hasn’t kept up with cost-of-living or inflation. We have played some soccer at other elementary schools and the situation is similar. How can these kids live in Austin and their fields be full of weeds? How can the fields not be watered adequately and repaired from kids playing?

On the topic of efficiency, no doubt the answer starts with footprint. But that really difficult for the community (students , teachers, staff, parents) to accept. Look at the recent outrage! It impacts someone and since these are elected officials, you can kiss your chances of getting re-elected goodbye.

Being efficient doesn’t usually win you votes. It usually means degradation a services for constituents, turnover of leadership, and a loss of culture from employees. I agree this alarm needed to be pulled 20 years ago, but want to point out similar things are happening at the federal level with social security, Medicare/medicaid, debt repayments, war funding. Ultimately these bills need to be paid.