Budgets cuts will be hard enough without the bickering

This article is basically stating that there is some quarrelling between texas officials and debating how to react to the almost certain impending budget cuts due to overspending in recent years.  The board trustees agree that something has got to be done but this article makes these trustees seem as if they’re too timid to make any concrete decisions.  School board officials need to know what they will be required to do, and what they will be required to do quickly.  Because the fiscal year for teachers begins in July, board members need to know what kind of numbers they will be faced with. 

The meeting with Fort Worth school trustees has everyone fearing for their jobs because they know the positions cuts are probably first on the list.  Trustees asked for more information on potential cuts before moving closer to a resolution. When a member of the administration claimed that there was a list but board members didn’t know about it, superintendent Melody Johnson claimed there was no such list in existence, however schools in the Fort Worth area have asked their teachers to inform employers if they had planned retirement soon or quitting their job so as to protect other employees from blindly axing their positions.  This situation seems like everyone but the board members and trustees know what is impending. 

This article makes it clear that a decision to resolve the budget cuts is urgent, but makes the activists in this decision making out to look dumbfounded by the posed problem and a solution.  There are obvious labor-force downsizing propositions but trustees are trying to look at all the options before deciding on a resolution.  It is as if, recognizing the answer but not wanting to face the consequences.  This article also makes it seem as if there has been little brainstorming done.  The trustees finished their meeting, agreeing that this was an urgent topic to resolve, deciding to come to a conclusion “next time”.  This attitude and manner of resolving a problem I’m rather familiar with, it's called procrastination.  

Star-Telegram.    Budget cuts will be hard enough without the bickering

Watson files a bill concerning cellular data messages

Friday, February 11th, 2011, Senator Kirk Watson filed a bill concerning the offense of sexting.  "Sexting" is a term used to describe the sending of sexual explicit and/or provocative messages/pictures. The bill would make sending explicit material over a cellular device a crime for minors and make awareness of this crime by implementing education programs.  Since there are few prosecutions already on the subject matter, it's difficult to tell whether there is a real need for the legislation however,with the new law, sexting would be considered a class C crime consisting of a fine for first time offenders and a class A misdemeanor for third-time offenders involving up to a year punishable in jail.  Watson believes that passing this bill would make "sexting" be perceived as a more serious matter and would make recipients of sexts punishable for not filing a report within 48 hours of the incident.

The Austin Chronicle. Bill of the Week. http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2011-02-11/bill-of-the-week/  February 11, 2011.