rate of medical uninsured in the nation. The politicians running the state have taken one too many blows to the head.

The voters in the school district voted to issue bonds to pay for the stadium.

Perhaps the majority of the district's voters have taken one too many blows to the head.

if the Eagles had lost the state championship.

Foolish administration, investing all its money in books and teachers and curriculum and the arts and all those other things they were originally established to promote. Why, we could have graduated top-notch athletes who received scholarships to prestigious universities or even (on rare occasion) produced an athlete talented enough to play in professional sports . . . oh wait, we did.

The Allen school district has over 18,000 students enrolled and grew rapidly within the past couple of decades. The population in Allen increased from about 2,000 to 8,000 between 1970 and 1980, then to 18,000 in 1990, to 43,000 in 2000, and up to 84,000 in the 2010 U.S. Census. The high school enrollment is at 5,000 and the high school band has over 600 members.

The construction of the stadium was approved by the voters in a bond election. It is also the venue used for graduation ceremonies and I believe that the Allen school district has leased the stadium for other events including concerts. The median income in Allen is $95,000 per year and the other facilities in the district are in great shape. The school district also offers elective classes that aren't found at many districts nationwide. As an example, these are the elective courses offered at one of the middle schools in the district:
http://www.allenisd.org/domain/1197

I admit that the stadium is extravagant (particularly the video screen), but criticizing the administration for being frugal with their other programs is not being honest. I don't know all of the details, but it's possible that the state could have redistributed the local property taxes under the state "Robin Hood" law. So I can understand why the residents in the school district would prefer to keep the money within the district rather than sending it to Austin.

I give credit to inspectors, whoever, admitting there is a possible danger in the construction, design
or the land it was built on.

Tikki

The post I responded to was bringing up the academics vs. athletics argument so I wanted to present facts that counter that argument. I also give credit to the inspectors and the administrators for admitting the danger and taking action rather than be negligent and wait for an accident to occur. Most likely the cracks developed since most of the land in the Dallas area has a high clay content in the soil which is subject to expansion and contraction. Therefore, foundation issues for residential and commercial properties along with public roads are relatively common particularly since there were drought conditions within the past couple of years. I familiar with this issue because our family lost about $15K off the expected value due to questions about the foundation when we sold our father's home (200 miles away from Dallas) a few months ago.

FWIW, I felt the same way about academics being underfunded compared to athletics when I was a student in high school. If the students were suffering in squalor without necessary supplies and equipment, then I would definitely be more critical about spending $60 million for a football stadium but this isn't the case.

Do you even have to ask?

(and I would say the same if it were to happen here in my state of Georgia)

I am personally hesitant to throw stones at Texas.

They decided to keep only one high school in the district to concentrate the best athletes (football) so they can continue to be a power house. They won state again last year so I guess it works. Of course, they built this monstrosity during a 2 year drought on Texas black clay so the fact it is cracking is not surprising.