Rant- School District!

[Aggie_Ama]

I don't even have a kiddo but we moved to our town because they have the best schools in the area that has houses we can afford. The only better area is a very wealthy enclave of Austin. We pay a lot in property taxes to the school district, I believe it is 50% of the total property tax.

I was reading the local paper and was floored to discover that our mid-size district (it is classified as 3A) will let anyone transfer in. That isn't the kicker, the kicker is they charge them nothing! No tuition or nominal fee for the extra kid in our district. Yet our district has to make room for them in the class rooms my taxes help fund. The paper reported the number of transfers last year was 170 students.

Now I understand they are paying school taxes in their district, but they made the choice to use ours. They could have bought a house in our district and paid for the schools they are using. In fact we chose to move 6 miles further out not to be in that district. The district they are in is barely rated lower than mine, making it the best large district (it is a 5A) in the area. It isn't like they live in a poor quality district. I just can't come up with a good reason not to charge them some fee??

[Veronica]

I don't know about TX but in CA we receive money based on attendance. The more kids you have in school, the more money you get. A lot of districts won't allow kids to transfer out of their home district for this reason.


Oh and we can't charge fees because it's public school.


V.

[salsabike]

Usually---at least here---one district will receive the other's public funding when a student transfers in; that is, the money moves with the student. I have no idea if that's done where you live but I'd be surprised if it wasn't, since something has to pay for the teachers and materials that the transfer kids consume.

[Aggie_Ama]

I don't know about TX but in CA we receive money based on attendance. The more kids you have in school, the more money you get. A lot of districts won't allow kids to transfer out of their home district for this reason.


Oh and we can't charge fees because it's public school.


V.

You know, now that I think about it Texas works the same way on attendance. I don't know about not being able to charge a fee. I would assume since the district voted not to it would be allowed but who knows?

Salsa- I don't know if that is the case here. I should find out so I am not nearly as annoyed.

[Irulan]

I live in WA state, and kids routinely transfer from district to district, for whatever reason.(better music, diversity, etc) It's a public school thing. As long as there is room, a kid can't be denied.

Everyone's paying taxes. It's not like these other kids parents are off the hook. I'm no expert on school funding but I'm pretty sure some of the school money goes into statewide funds that are redistributed, plus of course there are local funds. At least that is how it works around here.

It looks like Texas public schools are funded by a mix of local, state and federals funds, just like the ones in my state
http://www.idra.org/Education_Policy...ls_are_funded/

[Aggie_Ama]

Everyone's paying taxes. It's not like these other kids parents are off the hook.

You know you have probably hit the nail on the head, I shouldn't care that they are coming. This neighborhood they are all coming from has lower property taxes due to a slightly lower school tax and not being in a MUD like mine. Probably why people buy there and transfer into our district. But I chose to buy where I did because I can cycle right out my front door and I couldn't there. Plus the parents are responsible for taking their own children to school, no bus service for transfers.

Honestly, I just didn't know they could do that. I think the district I grew up in required a fee to transfer but I have been out of public schools for many years. And I was shocked at the number- 170 is a lot of kiddos for a district the size of mine.

[makbike]

Are they being allowed to transfer in due to test scores? Could it be their home score is not "performing" adequately and thus the students have a right to transfer to a school that is "performing" adequately?

[DDH]

Amanda, here where I live, they aren't even allowed to transfer within or own school district. That is to say that I cannot take my child to a elementary school outside of my zone area.
I think it really stinks because there are a few schools in this area that are terrible as far as the some of the kids that go to them that cause many problems.

I think the town next to me does charge for a kids to transfer out of their district to them. At least my step sister told me that they do, cause she wanted to put her kids there until she found out how much they were going to charge her.

[KSH]

You know, now that I think about it Texas works the same way on attendance. I don't know about not being able to charge a fee. I would assume since the district voted not to it would be allowed but who knows?

Salsa- I don't know if that is the case here. I should find out so I am not nearly as annoyed.

Well, I also think the TAKS test scores play into how much money a school gets as well.

I THINK. Maybe someone knows differently?