Free Republic

Texas school superintendent salaries continue to rise, despite falling enrollments and flagging student performance, leaving taxpayers wondering what they are getting for their money. Newly released Texas Education Agency data for the 2023-24 school year shows eight superintendents with salaries above $400,000 and another 81 receiving $300,000 or more. Texas’ highest-paid school superintendent was again Cypress-Fairbanks ISD’s Mark Henry, who pulled down a base salary of $536,775 before retiring in December 2023. Last school year, 77 superintendents received taxpayer-funded salaries above $300,000, with five making $400,000 or more. During the 2021-22 school year, 60 superintendents scored salaries at or above...

Los Angeles parents are outraged after their middle school announced budget cuts because there are too many white students, according to Sunday reports. Walter Reed Middle School announced there would be layoffs and larger classes because the school’s white student body is too big, reports ABC 7. The Los Angeles Unified School District gives schools money only if white students make up no more than thirty percent of the student population. Walter Reed Middle School’s white population increased heavily over the past few years, leading to the budget cut announcement. Parents remained unhappy with the announcement, citing concerns for their...

HUDSON, N.Y. - Residents of the Hudson City School District voted against the 2011-2012 proposed school budget Tuesday night, however following the polls closing the board of education reversed the decision. The results of the Hudson school budget vote showed 1,249 residents against the budget, and only 424 in favor of the budget. The school board voted in the budget after polls closed, despite the rejected budget results. The school board's vote was split 4 to 3. According to the Hudson City Superintendent, the budget presented was less than a contingency budget would be. Under state law, the Board of...

Meanwhile, west of the Hudson, rookie New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has a better idea. As usual. With a $10.7 billion state budget gap, Christie needs to slash $800 million in school aid -- which could mean severe teacher layoffs across the Garden State. But the governor has advanced a plan meant not only to avert, or at least mitigate, layoffs -- but also to deliver a little extra cash to school districts. He wants New Jersey's teachers to forgo temporarily a scheduled 4 percent pay hike this year -- saving as much as $500 million and sharply reducing pressure...

"In many American cities, local politicians spend the winter months helping clear away snow. But Southern California is different. Here, elected officials, sometimes using taxpayer money, bring the white stuff in. Man-made snow has already come to Pacoima, Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles and many places in between this year. (A version of the stuff — hail — fell for free in Watts last month, but cost a bundle to clean up.) And in the coming weeks, it is scheduled for several other locales, including a patch in Exposition Park where a representative from Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn's...