Category Archives: ideas

To encourage a continuous flow of ideas have a perpetual contest that pays anybody a tiny percentage or amount that helps stimulate thought but does not become a financial burden or offset the revenues/savings if the thought turns into an … Continue reading →

For some high school students, their senior year is partially a waste of time. Now mind you, some students need their senior year to catch up before graduating into the real world, but others have already taken their SAT’s, applied … Continue reading →

Work with the City of Austin to place a tiny (as little as 50 cents or a dollar) local education surcharge on utility bills. Setting the policy so the fee would be impossible to increase for a long period (at … Continue reading →

Partner up with the University of Texas to shuttle fans to/from UT home football games at Barton Creek Mall. The contract should be enough to handle fuel costs, driver pay (which they would probably desire), bus depreciation, and leave enough … Continue reading →

Get AISD into the camp business. It’s big business. Partner up with businesses as well as running them directly. Use AISD’s human resources to conduct camps in drama, writing, science, music, various sports, just about anything. One of the great … Continue reading →

This is a temporary fix; if things don’t get better in the tax revenue department, it will just delay the inevitable, but at least folks will have an idea something’s coming instead of getting blindsided like we are now. I … Continue reading →

Instead of building permanent gold-plated “Big Box” schools for RE developers in sprawling Austin suburbia, I would like to see AISD recommit themselves to the only proven elementary school model that works, that is, SMALL NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS. I have a … Continue reading →

Allow for limited corporate sponsorships of AISD facilities.  Not going to be a lot of money, but it is still a source of revenue not currently being pursued.  Sufficient restrictions could be done to make sure they are in alignment … Continue reading →

Dr. Carstarphen receives a $1,000/mo vehicle allowance. I think she can afford to maintain her own vehicle. When it is used for work, she can submit in a mileage reimbursement like everyone else. It’s not a lot, but it’s something … Continue reading →

Mandate 5-10 furlough days a year for AISD CAC employees. Furlough days may need to be staggered during the school year for employees within certain departments (so as to not leave the central office vacant) or be during the christmas … Continue reading →

The is a tract of land that AISD has owned for about 30 years now. It was originally set aside for an elementary school which the Travis Country residents back in the 80′s voted against (foolishly). The land is tucked … Continue reading →

Eanes ISD has been able to successfully bypass Robin Hood and keep money within its own district through the Eanes Education Foundation. They are able to fully fund teacher positions, athletic programs, and facility renovations/maintenance. Foundations can be set up … Continue reading →

Building a few additional vacation days into the school year could potentially have several cost saving benefits as well as potentially bring in additional income… how? If there were a few more vacation days added during some of the months … Continue reading →

Although there is a long list of excellent ideas on how to avert the current budget crisis in this discussion group, my thoughts are, “Is there a permanent solution to the current budget crisis and also future budget crises that … Continue reading →

I have no idea what is the status of AISD’s current teacher’s contract, but one idea is to reopen the contract and request teachers to forego any raises for the next two years. As part of the negotiation, we could … Continue reading →