AUSTIN, Texas — On Monday, the head of the Austin Chamber of Commerce announced its board is supporting a proposed tax hike on Austin ISD voters on the ballot in the upcoming election.
“That ability to engage the students of today who will be the business leaders of tomorrow is highly important,” said Jeremy Martin, president and CEO of Austin Chamber of Commerce, during a press conference on Monday at the organization’s Downtown Austin headquarters.
Martin added, “We need to continue investing in our schools to make sure that we are a great place to live and work, not only today, but also tomorrow.”
Martin was several speakers at Monday's event, which included AISD parents, educators and board members urging voters to pass Prop A. If approved, the measure will raise property taxes by $34 a month for the typical Austin ISD homeowner, with an estimated home value of $553,493. That tax increase would not affect homeowners with an over 65 exemption.
Prop A would net AISD an extra $41 million each year, which would be used to help plug a massive budget shortfall blamed on a lack of state funding, pay teachers and staff more, and fund more campus support jobs.
One board member told KVUE the district has made $30 million in cuts so far and is aiming to cut another $92 million over the next two to three years.
During Monday’s event, Stacey Smith, a librarian at AISD’s Marshall Middle School, said Prop A would support positions like hers.
“We’re teaching summarization skills that help [students] on the state tests,” said Smith. “We teach public speaking skills. We teach podcasting. We teach theater.”
When AISD put the measure on the ballot in August, board trustee Kevin Foster cast the lone no vote.
"We are in an abusive relationship with the state and when you are in an abusive relationship, at some point, you have to say no and you have to stop," said Foster.
Foster was talking about recapture. Since Austin ISD is a property-wealthy district, it has to send millions of dollars it collects from property taxes to the state to help fund poorer districts.
However, the head of AISD’s teachers union believes the state’s funding formula, not recapture, is the key issue.
“We are one of only six states in the nation that goes on attendance, and that undermines our district from being able to fund our schools appropriately,” said Ken Zarafis, president of Education Austin.
Francesca Fraga Leahy, whose son attends kindergarten at Zilker Elementary, hopes more money and better working conditions help retain her favorite teachers and staff and help them keep up with Austin’s rising cost of living.
“So that they’re compensated fairly for the work that they do,” said Fraga Leahy.
The mother of three spent her weekend door-knocking and phone-banking to drum up support for Prop A.
“Anything that I can do to show up for our teachers, our schools and all of the hardworking professionals that make them work is the least I can do,” she said.
On Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., AISD will host an online conversation about Prop A in English and Spanish. More information can be found at https://www.austinisd.org/propa.