For background, previous stories, and Web links, see our Issues Page on School Finance . Bruce C. Bennett loves the San Antonio Spurs, his local professional-basketball team. He's also fond of children. He has two of his own, and is the president of their school board. He denounced the arena as a bad deal for the schools, and championed the board's 5-2 vote on Dec. 14 that effectively killed the plan.
Children are first.
Educators in Cleveland, Hartford, Conn., and other cities where plans for professional sports facilities have drawn complaints that they divert public dollars from schools can only marvel at the clout of the North East system. State and local laws vary over the role that school boards have in economic development deals that impact them. Texas is unusual because it requires school districts to weigh certain tax deals that affect the value of land in their areas and lets them opt out of the proposals. That's the way the world ought to work, rather than schools' having their revenue channeled away by someone else. Arena Proposed The Spurs and a local developer unveiled the arena plan last summer.