My husband and I live in Round Rock ISD, and we plan to vote against Round Rock ISD's Propositions 1 and 2 on Election Day.  These are the RRISD bond package, split into two parts (a trick taxing entities use to hornswaggle voters - they know at least one part will pass, because voters are just that random, so money will be spent regardless).  

As a part of GOUGED (Groups Opposed to Unsustainable Government Education Debt), we oppose the bonds in large part due to the huge amount of debt already burdening RRISD taxpayers.  The district is already more than $600,000,000 in debt according to the Texas Bond Review Board; 1/3 of this is in the form of interest payments from previous bonds.  At this rate, the only thing we will pass on to our children is not an education, but a huge pile of local debt that our children and grandchildren will be saddled with.  Our children's future depends on responsible spending policies that do not incur additional public debts.

Williamson Republic has done a stellar job of uncovering the dirt about RRISD's academic rating, which you should check out here.  The Voice of the Taxpayer has a breakdown of information regarding the RRISD superintendent's salary and vacation days, and also information regarding his annuity account.

As for Austin ISD - the board has proposed raising the tax rate.  We don't pay taxes to AISD and are therefore ineligible to vote on this proposition, but we also wish to state our opposition and make the case against it.  Several GOUGED members are also against AISD Prop. 1.  The exact language on the ballot is:

 APPROVING THE AD VALOREM TAX RATE OF $ 1.2020 PER $100 VALUATION IN THE AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR THE CURRENT YEAR. A RATE THAT IS $0.0390 HIGHER PER $100 VALUATION THAN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ROLLBACK TAX RATE.

As has been pointed out elsewhere, this essentially amounts to about $90 in a year if you own a home that is valued at $233,000.  Seems like a drop in the bucket.  However, consider this:  AISD has at least a 2-to-1 administrator/teacher ratio, pay their administrators more than their teachers, be in such debt ($901,717,313, principal and interest, as of 8/31/07 according to the Texas Bond Review Board), and AISD's superintendent makes more in base salary than the governor ($276,276 for 2007-2008 according to the TEA).  Raising the tax rate above the rollback rate is irresponsible, no matter the reasoning.  Clearly, budgeting and staying within the budget are issues the board needs to address.  At that point, a legitimate pay raise for teachers can be addressed (not a 3% raise that is actually a pay cut, since annual raises are usually more).

It is clear from the actions of both RRISD and AISD that the legislature must address spending and taxation come January.  Local taxing entities must not be allowed to enter into such irresponsible debt, especially when there is more and more money coming in thanks to appraisal boards.  Also, the rollback on tax rates needs to be made automatic, to prevent school districts from taking advantage of voter ignorance in order to raise their tax rates.