I am writing this letter to ask every eligible voter to come out and vote for the future of Odessa by supporting the ECISD bond election. Because of the explosion in social media platforms and the ability to give misinformation by hiding behind anonymous name tags that old axiom of “we are in a period of being over informed and under enlightened” has never been more true.
So, in full disclosure, I have lived in Odessa for 26 years, am the first in my family to graduate from high school and college so I know firsthand the value of a good education. I served on the Tax Ratification Election (TRE) support committee, The Committee to Elect Chris Stanley to the School Board, and am currently serving on the ECISD Bond Support committee.
This bond is being driven by three things; a non-partisan survey authorized by Opportunity Odessa that determined of the twelve priorities identified for Odessa, education and supporting ECISD was number one; a survey commissioned by ECISD to determine what the most pressing needs and how large a bond would the community support; and the results of a system wide review of facility needs that was done in 2018 and preceded the TRE.
The facilities review was done by a firm of consultants from outside Odessa. The surveys were also done by respected polling firms from outside the area to determine the community’s response to what the future should look like. These were Opinion Research polls and not a “push” poll so I believe they accurately reflect the desires of the community. As a member of the TRE and bond group, I reviewed the results of the reports and visited many of our schools and saw firsthand the need for facility improvements that make up this bond issue.
I visited the CTE facilities and can say without hesitation how badly we need new facilities to support the growing need for IT technicians, welders, plumbers, mechanics, to service our expanding workforce especially in the clean energy and fossil fuel industries. It is anticipated we will need 50,000 more skilled workers by 2050 than we have now and where are they going to come from if not from our schools?
A recent DOE report stated that in addition to all the clean energy we can provide, by 2050 due to worldwide population increases, we will need 43% more fossil fuel than is currently being produced. Much of it will need to come from the Permian Basin. There has been a lot of talk about past bond issues and the use of funds and a distrust of the leadership of the school district.
Have there been problems and mismanagement in the past, yes. However that is not true today. The past 3 superintendents have worked extremely hard to rebuild trust in the community. Former Interim Superintendent and TEA Director Jim Nelson addressed the issue head on as part of the TRE by having a community oversite committee formed to review the districts spending of the funds.
There will also be an oversight committee as part of this bond election. Regarding fiscal management, the district for the past several years has received the highest rating given by TEA for fiscal management. Through good management, the board has been able to pay off early some previous bond issues saving the district taxpayers over $19 million dollars resulting in a Bond rating of A+ which will make the bonds for this election much more attractive and easy to sell.
If you have visited either Permian or Odessa High, you will know that the need for a third comprehensive high school is evident. There is no more room for portable classrooms and over 38 teachers are currently without classrooms. In addition to reducing the overcrowding, it will give more students the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities and become better students.
Overcrowding is both a safety and a learning issue. Regarding the tax increase if the propositions pass , as long as the state of Texas uses property taxes to fund schools, taxes will continue to go up except for those who are over 65 and have a homestead exemption. Your school taxes are frozen! However, even with the increase, our taxes will be lower than most districts in the state with similar school populations.
Are our schools perfect, no, but they are moving in the right direction under the leadership of Dr. Muri and his staff. Standards in some cases are performing better than state averages. Finally, if you have concerns I urge you to ask questions, visit the schools to see the conditions they are in, have a member of the bond committee make a presentation to a group you belong to.
This bond is not about just today, but the future. ECISD is entering its second hundred years with the majority of its facilities over 50 years old with the need for upgrades to bring them into the 21st century. Regardless of your personal political beliefs, I hope every reader of this letter will vote to support the children of Odessa by voting YES to propositions A and B.
Charles Cotten
Odessa
