School Spending and Academic Results

Last week, I commented on a study that concluded that Texas school funding favors wealthy school districts. Today, I want to focus on what the disparity in spending buys the wealthy school districts. In short, academic achievement.

After the jump, plenty of dodging and weaving, then the facts.

One of the Largest Spending Gaps

This is not the kind of distinction that Texans ought to be proud of:

The public policy research and advocacy organization said Texas has "one of the largest spending gaps" in the country -- a difference of more than $1,100 per pupil, after factoring in differences in costs. "In fact, in 2012, the wealthiest districts received almost $1,500 more per pupil than the lowest-wealth districts," the report said, attributing the disparities to a "regressive" formula for distributing state and local funds.

Source: Dallas Morning News.

This won't change until either the voters or the courts force the legislature to do something.

After the jump, the prospects for each.

Some Body Work for a Gas Station

Source: City of Richardson.

In this week's meeting, the Richardson City Planning Commission (CPC) considered a request for zoning changes for reconstruction of a Texaco gas station on the northeast corner of Belt Line Rd and Plano Rd. I'm getting weary of whining about the voracious appetite of developers for ever more acreage to devote to cars. Sometimes, it seems as if our city's 28 square miles will soon all be paved.

After the jump, my thoughts on this Texaco station's plans.

28 Square Miles. How Many Will Be Paved?

Wired magazine's Adam Rogers gets it:

Tear it all down! Well, OK, not all of it. Let’s start with the freeways. They look permanent, sure, but most highways, especially the ones cutting through city centers, aren’t that old -- only a few decades. And in some towns, they do more harm than good.

Source: Wired.

The movement against freeways appears to be picking up followers slowly. It's not enough to reverse the growth of freeways, at least not yet, but maybe it soon will be enough to bend the curve.

After the jump, what this has to do with Richardson.

Remember the Alamo ... Drafthouse

The alarm was sounded. There was an urgent need for immediate action in last May's announcement that the Alamo Drafthouse was coming to the Richardson Heights Shopping Center:

"It is urgent -- the reason is that old theater on Spring Valley," [Bill DiGaetano of Alamo Drafthouse] said. "It's an existing theater, and if a theater group comes in there before we announce, [then] we're not coming into Richardson nor will any theater come back into Richardson. Because in order to show first-run Hollywood movies, you have to be three miles from an existing theater. So once you plant your flag, nobody can come within three miles of you simply because they won't get the same films as you. Delaying this causes us to delay announcing it, and delaying announcing it could be detrimental to the whole process. We have contingencies in our lease that if something like that happens, we’re out."

Source: Pegasus News.

Message received. Alamo Drafthouse got the Richardson city approvals it wanted. The rest of us could conclude that the "old theater on Spring Valley" would just have to find some other re-purposing use. Another option for your Sunday morning church services, maybe?

That was last May. After the jump, more good news for moviegoers. Or is it?