METRO RAIL PICKING UP STEAM

A year or two ago, the people of Austin were unsure of what would happen to the metro rail service plans that was introduced. People had they're hopes up but further delays ended all the excitement.

Even the people of Austin had they're doubts about the capital metro rail service being up and running in Austin. The challenge of getting the rail up by the target seemed more and more unrealistic.

But what a difference a year has made. The new board and management have brought discipline, competence, and greater transparency to the agency. Now the metro rail service is looking to expand even more to meet greater demands of the city during special events and during the weekends.

During the south by south west interactive, music and film festival the demand for the rail service had reached it's peak since it first launched. American statesman writer Ben wear reported that MetroRail boardings averaged 3146 from Monday to Thursday during the third week in March, with a high of 3708 on March 17th.

Even without special events the demand for MetroRail has substantially risen. Critics had asserted that Central Texas residents would not abandon they're cars and vehicles to replace them with the MetroRail and the ones who actually did would use the bus system instead because of cheaper price. They also blasted costs for commuter rails, saying that fares don't cover what it costs to run the system.

The MetroRail has gone through a lot of ups and down during it's infant years here in Austin. But it seems like all that effort is going to be paid of in the future as it is getting known to be a more and more popular transportation option to the people in the Greater Austin Area.

PERRY VS SCHOOL BOARDS

There's a lot of concern going on over how the state right is being perpetrated. Teachers are being laid off all over the state and people wants answers. Unfortunately, Gov. Rick Perry is not giving any. He believes that he should not be blamed for the massive layoffs.

Many people agree that his way of dealing with the state budget crisis is not the best way. In an official statement made by the communications director of Perry, Dax Gonzalez said that the legislators won't personally fire the teachers but that is essentially what will happen if the legislative leaders fail to provide any funding for districts to retain teachers.

This is the unfortunate truth. Technically Perry and the government aren't responsible for the lay offs. It's what will ultimately happen after the state budget falls and school districts have the face the truth with budget cuts. The situation has been going on for a couple of years now all over the country but just in the past six months has it truly hit Texas hard. The economy is still not in the best condition and has been on recovery mode for a while.

I agree with the authors perspective about the issue. The government is not truly to blame for what school districts around the state has been going through. If the state budget is low then schools districts are not going to be funded with the proper amount of money to function them. As a result the districts have to cut down on they're expenses. As a result of this schools have to cut down of faculty and staff.

WHERE'S MY MONEY?

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20110218-editorial-seeking-more-accountability-in-higher-education.ece

There are a lot of college students who are don't graduate from school or decide to take a leave for a while. For many of these students the future may seem uncertain. They sign up and get accepted to college but they never graduate. The percentage of students who didn't successfully complete school or graduate has gone higher and higher in the past few years. What can our government and universities do to combat this issue? It's not just that getting a good job might be hard for them in the future but a lot of they're money has gone to waste.

Studies and research has shown that Texas is lagging behind other states when it comes to education and the amount of people successfully getting they're degrees.

"The amount of resources lost on students who don’t graduate is astounding. The Coordinating Board says two-thirds of those who enrolled in post-secondary education in 2003 failed to graduate by 2009. That translates into taxpayer support for the unsuccessful college careers of more than 100,000 students in that time, a waste that the schools should be pushed to help minimize."

I totally agree with the author in this case. He makes a legitimate argument about what students are going through right now. A lot of taxpayers money is going to waste just because college and universities don't have a better way to deal with situations like these. Even though it might seem hard to come up with a solution for an issue like this school around the state should come up with a better game plan for these students.

Budged cuts

The Austin Independent school district has been going through a rough time recently along a lot of school districts around the state. After the state budget collapsed to a 27 billion dollar hole school districts around the state have been cutting down they're expenses. As a result of this, there has been a lot of fear and going on between teachers, students and parents. There are possibilities of layoffs and even school closures.

Many are calling this the worst crisis in the history of school districts in Texas and that seems to be true. A lot of schools in the Austin area have been forced to cut down they're budget. This is going to have a lasting effect on our kids and our future as well because education is our biggest priority and if the later generation don't get the best education possible then that's going to have negative consequences for the future.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/state-budget-woes-hitting-home-in-austin-schools-1218991.html