Dallas Highschool $60,000,000.00 New Stadium

[CLW]

:fp:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Dallas-suburb-to-open-new-60-million-football-3778103.php (http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Dallas-suburb-to-open-new-60-million-football-3778103.php)

[souljahbill]

If taxpayers are willing to pony up the money, I have no issue.

[SCClassof93]

If taxpayers are willing to pony up the money, I have no issue.

Sad thing is I am sure many are not willing and will be forced to pony up anyway :fp:

[CLW]

If taxpayers are willing to pony up the money, I have no issue.

Yeah I don't have a problem with people deciding what to do with money. I do question the logic of issuing bonds (i.e. debt) to build a highschool football stadium. Seriously, if that many people want to watch the game have a local t.v. station put it on t.v.; build a hill that people can sit in lawnchairs on; etc....

In other words if the school had $60M sitting around and the people said hey lets build a huge football stadium. Fine. However, they didn't have the money and borrowed the $60,000,000 + whatever compounding interest rate for a municipal bond.

The ONLY logical reason to borrow and spend that amount of $ on a football stadium is if it is going to turn a major profit for the school and can pay off the debt in short order.

[jaymo76]

Remember in the good old days when schools focused on education?

[souljahbill]

Remember in the good old days when schools focused on education?

Nowadays, we have to put more emphasis on the extracurriculars because it keeps kids doing positive stuff instead of being home or causing trouble in the streets.

[jaymo76]

Nowadays, we have to put more emphasis on the extracurriculars because it keeps kids doing positive stuff instead of being home or causing trouble in the streets.

I don't dissagree with you but if you're going to build a multi-million dollar football stadium for a high school, the only priority at the school will be football. If a kid screws up in school will he be pulled for the big game? Will the principal anger the community/boosters ans risk being dismissed by the school board? I doubt it. Sports/extra curricular should be an important component of education, not the end all and be all of education.

[souljahbill]

I don't dissagree with you but if you're going to build a multi-million dollar football stadium for a high school, the only priority at the school will be football. If a kid screws up in school will he be pulled for the big game? Will the principal anger the community/boosters ans risk being dismissed by the school board? I doubt it. Sports/extra curricular should be an important component of education, not the end all and be all of education.

I wholeheartedly agree with you but with parents becoming less accountable for their kids and schools being held more accountable (for stuff outside of just learning), this is unfortunately the new world we live in (or at least here in the U.S.).

[jaymo76]

I think that is the trend for the entire western world. Rather than hold children responsible for their actions, get children to embrace personal responsibility, allow children to learn from their mistakes, a great many parents have ENABLED their children to believe that it's always someone elses fault and that they have the right to do whatever they want. This generation of children have truly become "generation ME" because it truly is all about them.

[morsdraconis]

I think that is the trend for the entire western world. Rather than hold children responsible for their actions, get children to embrace personal responsibility, allow children to learn from their mistakes, a great many parents have ENABLED their children to believe that it's always someone elses fault and that they have the right to do whatever they want. This generation of children have truly become "generation ME" because it truly is all about them.

That's exactly right. These kids grow up with no responsibilities because their parents aren't home enough to give them any. Without responsibilities, they have no concept of what the repercussions are for their actions.

[steelerfan]

Doesn't surprise me. Texas is huge on high school football. I have been to regular season games here in Houston that have pushed 20k in attendance and they had to turn people away. I have been to some ridiculously nice facilities here too.

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[JeffHCross]

Assuming the stadium was voted on by the community, okay.

If it was funded by private donations, okay.

If it was just forced upon the community ... not okay (though I consider that unlikely).

And yes, there are much better things we could do with $60 million. But the reality is that you couldn't get $60 million to fund those alternatives. And while I agree with Bill that the extracurriculars have become a massive focus, you're seeing district after district cutting extracurricular programs or classes because of lack of funding. Our education system is in a death spiral.

[ram29jackson]

Its Texas, they are too football nuts. But I also read that theres been instances where instead of building one big high school in an area that would make a school a 4A. Cities vote or push to build 2 smaller high schools so theres a better chance for a championship in a lower division 3A for both schools or some logic like that. But of course thats something that taxpayers wouldnt like because it bleeds them of money also.

private schools have a hard enough time paying for million dollar nu-turf fields. Even doing other events at this same field, theyve got to be in the red for a long time...?