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MERCEDES, Texas - The leadership of South Texas ISD cannot understand why the school district is coming in for criticism this year.

The complaints have centered on the funding STISD receives, with some of the smaller public schools in the Rio Grande Valley leading the way. But, officials with the magnet school district point out that their funding has been the same for years.\xa0

At a news conference, STISD Superintendent Marco Antonio Lara was asked why the criticism has flared up over the past year. He said he did not know.

\u201cThat's another great question and I wish I could answer that. But I don't know why. Even the legislators we have met with, we ask why, why now? I really don't know,\u201d Lara told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service.\xa0

\u201cIf it's about equity, that's not the way to go about it because now you are harming 4,300 students and 680 employees - by taking away our taxing ability. That's not equity. And if you do, what do you gain from it? That money doesn't go anywhere. The school districts don\u2019t get that money.\u201d

Lara asked where STISD\u2019s 4,300 students would go if his district was disbanded.

\u201cDo they go back to their home schools? I don\u2019t know. That's a great question and I wish, maybe, you could find somebody who could answer that,\u201d Lara said.

\u201cThis came up all of a sudden, again with a lot of misinformation, misconceptions about how we are funded and why we are funded. And I would really like to know. This is just something that's beyond us.\u201d

The news conference was held just before a school board meeting. The meeting drew a large crowd of parents and staff, all supportive of the school district.\xa0

In his answer to the Guardian\u2019s question, Lara mentioned state legislators because it has been assumed that critics of STISD would try to get the 88th Legislature to change the school district\u2019s funding model.

Attached is an audio recording of Superintendent Lara\u2019s comments at the news conference.

Editor's Note: To read the full story go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service website.

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.