Magnet Schools and RISD's Budget Hole

The Richardson ISD Board of Trustees has a regular meeting Thursday, February 22, 2024. One of the (many) items on the agenda is this:

TOPIC Recommended Budget Reductions: Project Rightsize

In December, the Community Budget Steering Committee presented a series of recommendations to effectively “right-size” the budget...

The Administration Team will provide an update on the budget planning and recommendations for the Board’s consideration and feedback.

Source: Richardson ISD.

TIL: US is Choosing to be Poorer

Donald Trump might be the Xenophobe-in-Chief, but both political parties are moving to the right on immigration. This will have a negative impact on GDP, posing threats to everything from Social Security to housing.

Boy Swallows Universe (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Boy Swallows Universe (TV 2024): Australian boy grows up in a broken home surrounded by deadbeat dad, drug-dealing stepdad, hardluck mom, and assorted bullies and crims. Somehow the kid manages not just to survive, but to thrive. Part fantasy, part crime story, altogether captivating. B+

Daisy Jones & the Six (TV 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Daisy Jones & the Six (TV 2023): Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. This is NOT Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, although the filmmakers wouldn't mind if that's what gets you to watch. The two lead singers are both selfish brats who are soulmates, but they are toxic together. It's the TV series that ends up poisoned. B-

Lessons in Power

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
— Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass is not wrong, just incomplete. He was referencing slavery. It took a Civil War to get Texans (and other Southerners, but I live in Texas so let's keep this close to home) to concede their power to hold other human beings in bondage. When it comes to much less consequential matters, people sometimes concede power without a second thought. Sometimes they might not even realize that's what they're doing. The Richardson City Council is in process of ceding power to the Mayor, without a demand. It's an implicit power that Richardson Mayors have wielded since forever, soon to be made explicit by a compliant City Council. See "Committee Appointments" in "Council Recap: Rules of Procedure" for details.