School Closings - New Revenue or Necessity?

Here in Texas, budget cuts have forced districts to consider closing schools. Some of the proposed closings have raised a few eyebrows...especially Austin.

In early February, three of the highest performing elementary schools (Zavala, Brooke, and Zilker) were on the chopping block. Closing those schools would rezone the district, sending these higher performing students to much lower perfoming schools.

The arguement for school closures was based on state budget cuts, with districts insisting there was no other way.

Now, here's my take on the situation. Since so much funding is tied to the high-stakes tests, it appears that AISD chose these schools in order to 'pad' the revenue for other schools. Not only does this further cheat students out of the education they deserve, it was suggested in a deceptive way. Administrator after administrator said they had no choice.

These schools have since been saved, but I still wonder about the situation. If closing schools was really the only option, why not choose lower performing schools and rezone, sending students to what appear to be better schools. The answer...money. Austin ISD would actually receive MORE money by pushing students into underperforming schools. This,if it had been done,would only have provided a temporary revenue boost. Eventually, the higher performing students would succumb to the 'dumbed down' instructional methods.

Maybe I'm wrong, but sacrificing good teachers and their students should NEVER be an option. Extra revenue andbonuses for administrators is now more important than giving our students the education they deserve.