TOLL ROAD RICK Perry Rejects Millions, Local ISDs React

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by: Kristen Guilfoos
NewsChannel 10

Amarillo, Texas - Local school leaders are reacting to a controversial decision from Texas Governor Rick Perry. NewsChannel 10's Kristen Guilfoos has more on what's they're saying about his decision to reject federal school stimulus dollars.

The money would come from a program called Race to the Top, but Perry says it's more like a sprint to the middle... With the finish line being mediocrity. But ask the Superintendent at River Road and he'll tell you it's a race worth running.

Governor Perry made it quite clear that not even a dime of the $750 million worth of federal grants Texas is eligible for will make it into the state's classrooms. "It smacks of a federal takeover of the public school system."

So much so, he says, that he's not even sending in the application paperwork. And that's leaving some local superintendents asking one question... Why?
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http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=11825660

[Downwinder]

1. When are the ISDs going to start taxing the toll roads?

They are commercial operations. They are not public right-of-ways anymore.

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2. Canyon and Amarillo

But the folks over at Canyon and Amarillo ISDs are taking a very different stance.... Saying the strings attached to the money pose too big of a threat.

Heavens - what are the Superintendent's in the Panhandle scared of? Way to teach your kids not to play in the world there.

Sonia