Are Taxpayers Really Getting Their Money's Worth?

The headline in the Austin American-Statesman (AAS) on this day is clear: " Austin School District Sues to Keep Search Documents Secret." http://tinyurl.com/n7fgju

A governmental body spending taxpayers money, hiring a law firm that charges on average between $250 and $295 an hour, to withhold records from public inspection. Why? This is a draft statement about the issue from AISD. http://tinyurl.com/npwdtk I'll let you be the judge whether they make a legitimate argument to keep the governmental agency's business in "the dark" while we all wait to see how the Texas Attorney General's Office will decide . But this is what the AG's office has had to say on the matter so far. http://tinyurl.com/n8h5xp

By contrast, however, in the very same newspaper on the very same day is a far different story involving the same school district. The outgoing Superintendant will receive more than $215,000 for unusused vacation time - at a time when the district has announced a hiring freeze! http://tinyurl.com/m2osp9 How do taxpayers know? Because when AAS reporters requested the information under the Texas Public Information Act - the law in Texas that governs the release of public information - AISD followed the law and complied. Maybe it's time taxpayers let AISD know enough is enough!