In future rain storms look for the rainwater coming out of this pipe on the northeast corner of City Gym. This is the source for some of the roof water that floods our streets, park and the football field, a consequence that was known - but never planned for - by ICISD and the City of Mertzon before ground was broken for the gym.
As I said in this post, It is Wrong to Treat Teacher Pay This Way, I took issue with Governor Abbott using teacher pay as a hostage to get what he wants with vouchers. In a turnaround, however, yesterday he expanded the scope of the special session so that now teacher pay can be considered. Here is his message, with my comments underneath:
My comments:
Might this mean using teacher pay as a hostage for vouchers was not a winning card in the legislature? Sure looks like it to me. Here is one press account about what is going on, which is to say that no one really knows.
Note that the expansion is for more than just teacher compensation. In Texas, one significant power of the governor is to call special sessions and determine what the legislature will consider. Two things jump out here that I have been addressing on this blog: public school accountability and school safety and its funding. Watch for more on these issues. Remember this: for all the property tax relief homeowners may be getting from the ongoing vote on amendments to the Texas Constitution, TEA has stated that their security upgrade rules are costing billions.
Here's a handy Reports page on the Capitol web site that will help you search for House Filed and Senate Filed bills. I suspect that the Governor's expansion is so comprehensive because there are already a number of bills filed that he is having to negotiate over.
Take the time to be a reader. If you learn to read government documents like this and go to the source to read them for yourself (I found this within seconds on the Governor's web site), you will not be as susceptible to misinformation on the web.