A "Tammy" for Richardson

The City of Richardson proudly announced that "Richardson’s newly re-designed website has earned the top award from the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers (TAMIO) for website design in a community with a population less than 100,000."

Kudos to the City of Richardson. After the jump, a few minor caveats.

School Funding: A Race to the Bottom

Kris Oliver, member of the Richardson school board, attended the Summer Leadership Institute, a training conference for the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). He kept his Twitter followers informed with bits of trivia.

Facts from my @tasbnews finance training. Texas rank in education spending per pupil? 42

Source: Kris Oliver.

If you knew that, then you probably won't be surprised by this next bit of trivia, either.

Texas rank in percent of adult residents with a high school diploma? Dead last.

Source: Kris Oliver.

Surely, you think, the Texas legislature realizes that the correlation between school funding and academic results just might be a bit of a cause-and-effect relationship, too.

After the jump, will it be this year?

One Of These Is Not Like The Others

Today's diversion involves a simple quiz on your knowledge of grade school civics. Well, actually, it's a quiz on your critical thinking skills^* disguised as a civics quiz. There are no right and wrong answers, only good and bad reasoning.

After the jump, a few simple questions.

The Little Engine That Could

Slowly but surely, planning for the Cotton Belt rail line from Wylie to D/FW Airport to Ft Worth continues to move forward. There's still no funding for the $2 billion project but that hasn't stopped the planning process. ("A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money." -- attributed to Everett Dirksen)

After the jump, a tale of two cities' attitudes to the Cotton Belt line.

A Museum, A Cottage, and A Wedding

From 2012 06 Wisconsin

Our summer vacation in Wisconsin included a day at Milwaukee's Museum of Art, several days at the family cottage on Big Lake in Shawano County, and attendance at Lisa and Dan's wedding in Appleton.

More photos after the jump.

Review: Life of Pi

Amazon

From Life of Pi, by Yann Martel:

It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I've made none the champion."

After the jump, my review.

The Egg & I (but Mostly Someone Else)

The Egg and I is a new Richardson restaurant on Campbell Rd east of Central Expressway. From their website:

Favorites include our benedicts, omelettes, waffles and whole wheat pancakes. We also offer an assortment of non-egg dishes.
At lunch, you'll find creative sandwiches, entree salads and hearty, homemade soups. And if you want breakfast for lunch - no problem!

Source: The Egg & I.

After the jump, a review from an anonymous friend.

DART Asks, "What's the Matter with Plano?"

The Dallas Morning News has a story (that I haven't read because of the online pay wall, but I read about the story on FrontBurner) about the future of DART as its completes its build-out of lines. Low ridership in Plano is the hook of the story. Supposedly DART says its future focus will be on increasing ridership at the stations it already has, rather than opening new stations, which was its focus for the last two decades.

After the jump, the solutions of the kibitzers.

Godwin's Law is your Friend

Glance at the comment thread of this blog post. Granted, it's nowhere near as inflammatory as some online forums, but still, it's not pretty. There is too much ad hominem reasoning that obscures the germane arguments that sometimes are made. Looking on the bright side, no one has called anyone else a Nazi ... yet.

After the jump, is there anything that can be done?

Raises in PISD. Crisis Over?

Rodger Jones, editorial writer for The Dallas Morning News, reacts to the news that the Plano school district (PISD) is awarding employees a 3% raise, after forgoing raises last year.

Like lots of people who care about education, I surely thought the sky was falling last year, when the Legislature was getting ready to cut education just like any other area of spending.

But what about the kids? I gasped. They're not sacrosanct? Austin would treat schools just like another program -- belt-tightening and everything?

I had visions of massive layoffs, classes doubled up, kids sharing desks, teachers teaching in the dark.

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

I'm pretty sure that's sarcasm. I can tell because Jones starts by saying he cares about education. Then he says he cares about kids. Funny ha ha stuff.

After the jump, more biting humor from the editorial office of The Dallas Morning News.