Do charter schools and private schools follow the same accountability evaluation? How about home school students?

Considering the changes in the STAAR and TEA  specifications, what support is the state/city/district providing to the schools to complete these new requirements? How parents can help school administration and teachers fulfill any new duties? What students can expect from their teachers when working on these new accountability methods? 

Since you mentioned teacher’s benefits, is it possible for the District to opt-in to social security?

As an educational entity we are already part of a pension plan called the Teacher Retirement System, where each employee contributes 8% of their paycheck. Most employees would likely not want to have an additional 6.2% taken out of their earnings for Social Security.

Is the $6,000 per student the size of the cup in the demo or the amount of blue liquid?

The $6,160 establishes the size of the cup. (See video of cup demonstration.)

How would vouchers affect the property tax and state pieces of funding?

Most of the voucher bills wouldn’t change the current relationship between property tax and state funding. In the filed state budget bill, vouchers were funded outside of the public school funding system. However, the long-term impact of the state providing funds for vouchers cannot be determined at this time.

How does students moving to charter schools affect funding?

Any time students are not in attendance – whether through absences or because they leave for charters – the District loses funding. A student attending every day in a non-specialized setting is funded $6,160.

Does the size of the cup differ by district?

Districts have different funding levels based upon enrollment, attendance, and number of students in specialized settings, but all public school districts are funded with the same formulas. Some schools will also have adopted more enrichment pennies than others which will drive additional funding.

When a school loses funding, where does that money go if the taxpayers are still having to pay?

Is it allocated to another school? If a district receives less funding, the state will have less they have to contribute. This savings goes into the state’s budget.

Who assigns/authorizes budget for school’s safety/security?

Ultimately, the school board adopts the District’s budget.