The Austin Independent School District is the fifth-largest school district in the state, with 86,000 students. Austin ISD's students, teachers, and staff consistently demonstrate academic and professional excellence despite the district facing a number of very serious issues. Among the areas in need of specific attention and improvement are issues of inadequate funding for the high cost of education, the increasing accountability and assessment measurements, the less-than-competitive salary for teachers, and the diminishing availability of funding to continue the District's key programs.

With the understanding of the difficulties and challenges the Legislature will face during the 82nd Legislative session, including a significant budget shortfall, the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees has adopted the following guiding principles:

• Provide flexibility to allow local school districts to prioritize spending and guard against any new unfunded mandates or infringements upon local control.
• Mitigate budget cuts in areas of education, where the need to prepare and educate students is constant and carries dire consequences for the State of Texas if education is under-funded.
• Ensure that funding is maintained and made available to districts serving students with high numbers of educationally disadvantaged students in full-day pre-K programs.
• Monitor and support work accomplished by the Legislature in 2007 and 2009 to provide stability in the state assessment and accountability systems.
• Maintain the funding available through the District Awards for Texas Excellence (DATE) grant so that the progress and results achieved by teachers can continue to be rewarded as reach their objectives.