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.