The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 116, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 12, 2006 Page: 3 of 32
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THE CANADIAN RECORD
THURSDAY 12DCTDBER2Q0G
3
State Capital
Highlights
Bali Sterling
TmSPMSSmBEIMIOH
Four candidates for governor met in Dallas Oct. 6 for the only
public debate in the race, but this column gets an Austin dateline
because one of the four will occupy the governor's mansion come
2007.
While fans prepared for the Texas-OU football game to be
played the next day in the Cotton Bowl and millions of other
Texans attended high school football games, others caught the
broadcast of the evening debate. Reporters asked questions.
Among the topics were crime, border security and immigration
control, toll roads, and health and education.
Democratic challenger Chris Bell, whose job it was to appear
competent, trustworthy and in command of the facts, seemed to
accomplish those things.
Kinky Friedman, whose hat and cigar set him apai't from the
other candidates in the eyes of the TV audience, needed to show
that he offers an alternative to anyone who is or wants to be a ca-
reer politician. That, he did.
State Comptroller ('anil KeetonStrayhorn, who like Fried-
man is running as an independent, needed to convince the au-
dience that she could do a better job at leading Texas than Gov.
Rick Perry. She accused Perry of being too close to lobbyists and
not delivering on promises.
The standard game plan for an incumbent (Gov. Perry) in a
campaign debate is defend his record, talk about the future and
maintain composure while under attack. He seemed to do that.
Libertarian candidate James Werner stayed at home in Aus-
tin and listened to the debate on the radio. He was not allowed to
participate because his statewide polling numbers were too low.
Whether any candidate said anything to change minds and
win new votes is hard to calculate.
There's about a month left until election day Nov. 7, when the
numbers that really count will be recorded.
New hotline far TAKS problems
Data gathered by a testing security company show that near-
ly 700 Texas public schools had "unusual data patterns" or "test
ing irregularities" in the 2005 Texas Assessment of Knowledge
and Skills. Testing irregularities include similar answers on scan
forms, erasure marks on similar questions, similar response pat-
terns and unusual gains in scores.
To deal with possible compromises to the exam, Education
Commissioner Shirley Neeley created a five-member "task force
on test integrity" and named an inspector general to lead the ef-
fort. After reviewing findings in an initial round of on-site cam-
pus visits, the task force recommended actions such as:
• Allowing inspector general Michael Donley, a lawyer and
former U.S. Air Force security officei", to refine questions asked
in on-site interviews, • Increasing the number of people inter-
viewed on sites, • Offering a hotline for teachers to anonymously
report questionable practices or outright infractions.
Since the Texas Legislature adopted benchmarks for public
education in the mid-1980s, allegedpractices known as "teaching
to the test" have placed a question mark on the validity of TAKS
and its previous incarnations.
Smoking rules change in Austin
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks struck down part of Austin's
2005 indoor anti-smoking ordinance. Pursuant to the ruling, it is
no longer up to barkeepers and restaurant owners to enforce the
ordinance. Now, if Austin police happen to catch smokers light-
ing up indoors, those people will be ticketed.
Managers of some eating and drinking spots that prefer to
remain free of cigarette smoke are politely asking smokers to
take it outside.
The school bond issue
Part III by Frank Belcher, CISD Superintendent
This week I will continue to answer questions on the proposed bond issue and the
impact the new school finance legislation will have on Canadian ISD. A voter infor-
mation brochure for the November 7th election is currently available at the school
district administration building at 800 Hillside, all school campuses, and at vari-
ous locations in town.
Q and A
Q. Will my school taxes increase if the bond issue is passed?
A. Depending on the amount of changes in appraisal values, school taxes will not
increase if the bond issue passes. As was the case with the previous two bond issues
the total school district tax rate has been kept low and the bond issues have allowed
Canadian ISD to keep more tax dollars here locally. As a result of the recently passed
school finance legislation, school district tax rates were "compressed" or lowered this
year and will be lowered further in 2007-2008. Even with the tax rate levied to repay
the bond issue the total tax rate will continue to be low. It is important to note that
over 90% of the Canadian ISD tax base is oil and gas with the remainder being resi-
dential and commercial. It is also important to note that taxpayers over 65 or disabled
will not see an increase in their taxes for residential homestead values above the fro-
zen levy amount established when the over 65 or disabled exemption was granted.
Q. Did the new school finance legislation do away with "robin hood"?
A. No. The new school finance legislation did not do away with "robin hood". Infaet,
Canadian ISD's "robin hood" payment this year will be $9.5 million. "Robin hood"
payments will account for 58% of the total school district budget and is the highest
budget item, with salaries and benefits being the second highest budget item.
Q. What are the factors that determine Robin Hood payments?
A. The factors that determine "robin hood" payments are the number of students
in the district, local property values, and maintenance and operating tax revenue.
"Robin hood" payments increase when student enrollment declines or loeal property
values or tax revenues increase.
Q. How much will Canadian ISD save in "robin hood" payment s as a result of t he
bond issue?
A. The bond issues passed in 2002 and 2004 of $2.5 and $3.5 million respectively,
has saved Canadian ISD over $5 million in "robin hood" payments. It is projected that
the proposed $8 million bond issue will save Canadian ISD over $7 million in "robin
hood" payments, providing that student enrollment and values remain at the current
level.
EDITOR'S NOTE: if you have questions about the proposed school bond issue, please
submit them by mail to The Canadian Record at P.O. Box 898, Canadian, TX 79014, or
by e-mail to editor@canadianrecord.com, or call the CISD Superintendent's office at
(806)323-5393. Answers will be published in this column in coming weeks.
FIELD NOTES CDNTINUED
as something more common. His memory, and
the abundant evidence of what I realize now is
his ai'tistry, have made me more attentive to
those I encounter.
What gifts have we overlooked in
others who have become too familiar
to us, too taken for granted? What tal-
ents have been buried or will remain
unappreciated by those who should
be their daily witnesses?
In that column I wrote twelve
years ago, I mourned the loss of mem-
ory, wishing I could dredge up some
more precise insight into Julius Born,
the photographer :
What I would like more than any-
thing is to be able to walk through that screen
door again into the treasured clutter of Julius
Bom's store and remember. I would like to re-
member what was there at my eye-level, inside
those glass cases and hanging from the beams.
I would like to remember the dusty, smoky
smell of the place. I would like to remember
what Julius Born said to me then, and how I
JULIUS BORN
I would like to remember the old men who
sat on those benches...whether they nodded
as I walked past, whether I knew,
then, their names. I would like to
listen in on their conversation, to
know what they stared at across the
street, to hear how the weather was
that day....
The memory I long for is the
very thing into which Julius Born's
luminous photographs provide a
window. If we look long enough and
hard enough, we canglimpse some of
the illusive past, and know, if only for
that moment, the artist's soul.
I hope the exhibit in the Visitors' Center is
only the beginning of our new appreciation for
and awareness of Julius Born, and the precious
visual history he so carefully preserved. I hope
we will share him with the world, in acknowl-
edgment of the gift he bequeathed so long ago
to the future.
OUR POLICY
Letters to the Editors
of The Canadian Record
are always welcome, and
will be published if they
are signed and cannot be
considered libelous.
We will not publish
anonymous letters under
any circumstance.
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purposes. Letters may
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noon for publication in
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Canadian, TX7BDI4,
fax to (800)323-5738,
or e-mail to
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 116, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 12, 2006, newspaper, October 12, 2006; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220753/m1/3/: accessed May 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.