The destruction of America's public education system

[DixonHur 11,341]

30 minutes ago, Brian Fantana said:

Your life revolves around a fairy tale you moron.

No, no...unlike the 1,000s of gods who have been worshipped since the dawn of time, his god is the real deal.

[WhatTheBuck 28,788]

37 minutes ago, Brian Fantana said:

Your life revolves around a fairy tale you moron.

Written by Iron Age tribesmen who didn’t know where the sun went at night. 

[Guest]

Actively lying on a statement of faith offends your sensibilities?  People have their own definitions of faith.  It is literally defined in the bible as " the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen."

If I'm hoping to get away from the darkies and they are unseen in my child's school; that signature is 100% legit, at least from the perspective of the parent.

 

[Captainant 27,680]

3 minutes ago, slorch said:

If I'm hoping to get away from the darkies and they are unseen in my child's school; that signature is 100% legit, at least from the perspective of the parent.

Well I'm thankful we are at the point where we can drop the pretense and acknowledge the growing and intensifying tend of using """religious freedom""" as justification for segregation 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Well I'm thankful we are at the point where we can drop the pretense and acknowledge the growing and intensifying tend of using """religious freedom""" as justification for segregation 

There are many more layers, but that is a predominant one that some folks like to pretend doesn't exist.  It's like the inverse of faith, if you will.

[Neonmoon 38,129]

I wouldn’t want non-believers in my cult either

[atomheartbevo 89,733]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

I wouldn’t want non-believers in my cult either

Well, who is gonna lead it?

[SydneyCarton 48,110]

18 hours ago, BeardIP said:

Nah, that's not a fair characterization.

I think it's a bad fit to take non-religious (not my words) kids and lie about goals/desires to go to a school that is actively trying to cultivate and maintain an aesthetic and culture of learning and discipleship that the non-religious, at best, finds neutral and ambivalence in, and at worst, is hostile and undermining.

Most Christ-based private schools (and I'll disregard the parochial schools here because I know that there is a big range, some of them are basically public-lite and don't care) have a statement of faith you have to sign (along with some sort of pastor/church references) during enrollment with caveats that say if this changes you should leave the school system, etc.. Actively lying on that seems weird to me.

The other side of the coin is that it's a disservice to the overtly and explicitly stated mission of the school if you have a kid (or, more realistically, parents) who are not interested in a faith based environment and education, as that can create "bad apples" of good kids by virtue of trying to shoehorn them into an environment they are suited for or feel included in, and these can turn into distractions and have the potential to be disruptive. I've seen it once or twice in my many, many years.

Again, it's weird to me to force your kids to be closeted as agnostic/non-religious/atheist but force them to go to a faith-based school with chapel and biblical studies and a huge percentage of the student population be believers. Seems like it would be miserable for the kid. But I guess any port in a storm for the non-religious.

Like I said, doesn't seem like a great fit for either side unless you find a more liberal private school who needs the money in your area.

Which is why I'm 100% against vouchers and why I believe it's whole-heartedly better to fix the public school system so the parents who want their kids to matriculate publicly feel safe and secure in sending their kids to their local school rather than fitting a square peg in a round hole for the detriment of all (most likely).

Lol, first, I want to say that this entire post is a load of bullshit. That's a lot of words, starting with "that's not a fair characterization" to literally demonstrate that what I said was, indeed, a perfectly fair and accurate characterization. You don't want your kids mingling with kids with PARENTS who are non-believers. Take note of the word in the capital letters, we'll get back to that in a second.

Now, onto the specific bullshit. First, your notion that "most" christ-based private schools make you sign a statement of faith.  I've never had to sign a statement of faith, and I'd never heard of statement of faith until your post, so I googled it. And what I learned is that there isn't a statement of faith required by all of the major, respected, and well known private schools in Houston. I may have missed a few, but I hit the big ones, and it was a big 0-fer. Google redirected me to all of their website's Missions, most of which talk about a balance between religion and science and reason. The ones that did show a statement of faith were most of the fucking quack factories I've never heard of, so rest easy, it looks like your children won't be rubbing elbows with mine any time soon. 

That doesn't change the fact that your "most" is a mischaracterization, and thus complete bullshit. It seems like the statement of faith is more of an outlier. Fun fact, the Texas Homeschool Coalition has a Statement of Faith. You folks can make of that what you will.  

Second, your entire notion that mixing children with different concepts of religion is telling...in an ominous way. You're already setting the table for intolerance and children living in a nice little snowflake bubble. Which, thankfully, is literally AGAINST the Mission of the school my son attends, it says so right on their webpage. Anyway, my kid is 6, and he's in kindergarten. Do you think we just popped him out agnostic, and are teaching him atheistic tenets at home so he can go to school and poke a stick in the wheel of Christianity...by having him cast doubts in the minds of other six year olds? If you think that's feasible, I'm questioning whether even have or have ever had children. My child goes to school, and learns, and plays, like every other fucking kid in the world should. Lol at the term closeted agnostic. It sounds like you have more of a problem with the children's parents. 

My child is going to do the same thing every other child does, and the same shit that I did as a kid. He's going to go to school, get a great education, go to chapel at school once a week, the same way I was drug to church on Sudays as a child, and he's going to have a religious studies class once or twice a week, the same way I had CCD and religious studies class, and then when he's old enough he's going to come to whatever fucking conclusions he wants to without me or my wife trying to indoctinate him into fucking shit. Becuase he's a child. He doesn't know what the fuck to believe except what he's taught, and what he sees, until he develops enough life experiences to make his own choices and come to his own conclusions. Which in my humble opinion, is what parenting is supposed to instill in children anyway. 

For the record, by what I can tell, this is a pretty liberal private school. It's liberal becuase it apparently still believes and practices the teachings of Jesus. It probably helps it's not a traditionally evangelical denomination. 

But we certainly agree on the voucher aspect. Of course, your reason is because you don't want your children to have access to diversity and experience difficult questions about faith potentially in the form of their classmates, and I don't think people should have to pay 25-30k a year on top of their taxes for children to learn in an environment with well compensated teachers, who have all the resources they need to teach our children, and have appropriate teacher to student ratios, teachers are required to have college degrees and often masters in education, and who actually care about the kids as opposed to taking the job becuase they needed a paycheck and it was what they could get. 

Edited March 1 by SydneyCarton

[Captainant 27,680]

18 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Now, onto the specific bullshit. First, your notion that "most" christ-based private schools make you sign a statement of faith.  I've never had to sign a statement of faith, and I'd never heard of statement of faith until your post, so I googled it. And what I learned is that there isn't a statement of faith required by all of the major, respected, and well known private schools in Houston. I may have missed a few, but I hit the big ones, and it was a big 0-fer. Google redirected me to all of their website's Missions, most of which talk about a balance between religion and science and reason. The ones that did show a statement of faith were most of the fucking quack factories I've never heard of, so rest easy, it looks like your children won't be rubbing elbows with mine any time soon. 

The fundagellical private school I did elementary school in had everyone sign a statement of faith that included wording to let them kick you out and keep your money if you were "unchristlike". I came across it in my parents old school stuff that they kept, and it was a bit of a shock to read. If someone is involved with something that requires them to sign a document proving how faithful they are, there's a good chance they're involved in some crazy.

And does anyone else find it ironic that they make you PROVE your faith, rather than taking it on faith? Those little logical inconsistencies are always fun

[SydneyCarton 48,110]

2 minutes ago, Captainant said:

The fundagellical private school I did elementary school in had everyone sign a statement of faith that included wording to let them kick you out and keep your money if you were "unchristlike". I came across it in my parents old school stuff that they kept, and it was a bit of a shock to read. If someone is involved with something that requires them to sign a document proving how faithful they are, there's a good chance they're involved in some crazy.

And does anyone else find it ironic that they make you PROVE your faith, rather than taking it on faith? Those little logical inconsistencies are always fun

Ironic is one word for it, illustrative is also accurate.

I love my kid's school. I love that the fact that their mission statent has six bullet points, only one of them talks about religion, and that one bullet point highlights christian spiritual and moral guidance to help instill in children self-confidence, respect, and happiness. 

The other bullet points seem pretty fucking woke, though: diversity, develop emotional health and well-being, academic achievement, contributing to the social/cultural/economic fabric of Houston, sportsmanship and physical health and education. 
 

[atomheartbevo 89,733]

Paxton has now sued 7 school districts for electioneering 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/williamson-county/texas-ag-ken-paxton-sues-hutto-isd-for-illegal-electioneering/

• Castleberry ISD
• Denton ISD
• Frisco ISD
• Denison ISD
• Huffman ISD
• Aledo ISD
• Hutto ISD

[Catdaddyhorn 3,446]

Miles just announced that the principals of both Carnegie Vanguard High School and HSPVA are going to be placed on the to be fired list. Oh by the way Carnegie Vanguard High School is currently ranked as the 5th best public high school in the state and #35 Nationally according the the US News & World Report rankings. 

[StassneyHorn 6,617]

5% for the 'Big Guy'

@DeAngelisCorey

In the final bill proposed to create the taxpayer-funded private school voucher scheme, the proposed legislation allows the Texas comptroller to hire at least one (1) Certified Educational Assistance Organizations (CEAO) that will hand out the voucher cash to the private schools based upon voucher-participating students managed by said CEAO. The CEAO, the 'Big Guy', gets 5% of the gross amount. The voucher bill was programmed to cost around $461 million a year in 2025. This mean's Corey's bosses, the 'Big Guy', will get a $23 million windfall the first year. In 2026, vouchers will cost $1.9 billion and Corey's bosses will get $95 million of our tax dollars. By 2028, the cost of the vouchers increase to $2.3 billion, netting Corey's bosses $115 million a year. Corey's take by year: 2025: $ 23 million 2026: $ 95 million 2027: $ 95 million (at least!) 2028: $115 million -------------------- Total GRIFT by

@DeAngelisCorey

and his bosses in 4 years? $328 million -- about 1/3 a billion bucks! That's a WINDFALL! And they are getting paid that to GIVE OUT YOUR TAX DOLLARS to rich families living in Cinco Ranch so they can send their kids to Strake Jesuit-- all on your dime! No wonder AFC Victory Fund spent $millions and $millions lying to rural Republican voters this year (about a the border crisis, not vouchers)! The text in the image is from the #TXLege Budget Board fiscal notes about HB1 (4th 88th session) here: https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/884/fiscalnotes/pdf/HB00001I.pdf#navpanes=0

Edited March 11 by StassneyHorn

[StassneyHorn 6,617]

So it would appear Greg Abbott campaigned against his anti-vouchers reps on border security, so we can pay some bubba 328 million dollars in 4 years to run the voucher program.

None of this actually has to be true, but would be possible under the bill, I just need you mad about it and telling everyone you know about it.

Edited March 11 by StassneyHorn

[Guest]

I don't even care about the people involved.  The math sucks and we get fucked, both in the short-term( taxes/ school funding) and long term( educating our populace.)

Everything is a fucking grift.

Edited March 11 by slorch

[Satchel 6,938]

2 hours ago, slorch said:

I don't even care about the people involved.  The math sucks and we get fucked, both in the short-term( taxes/ school funding) and long term( educating our populace.)

Everything is a fucking grift.

That we’re actually considering codifying legislation that would help well off parents send their kid to Jesuit is mind boggling boggling.

[Willfully Horn 8,033]

On 2/29/2024 at 7:49 PM, BeardIP said:

Proverbs 22:6, my friend.

But yes, the world is littered with good men and women who have wayward children and there wasn't much they could do about it. Tragedy abounds this side of Eden.

Yep. So, killing those lil fuckers was advised.

[Nivek 16,945]

I don't even care about the people involved.  The math sucks and we get fucked, both in the short-term( taxes/ school funding) and long term( educating our populace.)
Everything is a fucking grift.

Gee I wonder what political party keeps doing this and which one idiots keep voting for?

[Nivek 16,945]

My wife is close to giving up. She went looking for homes in Katy on the weekend. Our daughter was excited, but my wife really dislikes it there.

[SydneyCarton 48,110]

10 minutes ago, Nivek said:

My wife is close to giving up. She went looking for homes in Katy on the weekend. Our daughter was excited, but my wife really dislikes it there.

I believe Katy just elected a group of butters to their school board. So look out. 

[Guest]

33 minutes ago, Nivek said:

Gee I wonder what political party keeps doing this and which one idiots keep voting for?

Wanna go there?  Who cannot convey a more compelling message about education, to the point that the voucher bullshit even gets considered?

But yeah, wave the fucking team colors. That’s so gotdam productive 

[SimonBolivar 10,958]

On 2/29/2024 at 7:46 PM, BeardIP said:

Nah, that's not a fair characterization.

I think it's a bad fit to take non-religious (not my words) kids and lie about goals/desires to go to a school that is actively trying to cultivate and maintain an aesthetic and culture of learning and discipleship that the non-religious, at best, finds neutral and ambivalence in, and at worst, is hostile and undermining.

Most Christ-based private schools (and I'll disregard the parochial schools here because I know that there is a big range, some of them are basically public-lite and don't care) have a statement of faith you have to sign (along with some sort of pastor/church references) during enrollment with caveats that say if this changes you should leave the school system, etc.. Actively lying on that seems weird to me.

The other side of the coin is that it's a disservice to the overtly and explicitly stated mission of the school if you have a kid (or, more realistically, parents) who are not interested in a faith based environment and education, as that can create "bad apples" of good kids by virtue of trying to shoehorn them into an environment they are suited for or feel included in, and these can turn into distractions and have the potential to be disruptive. I've seen it once or twice in my many, many years.

Again, it's weird to me to force your kids to be closeted as agnostic/non-religious/atheist but force them to go to a faith-based school with chapel and biblical studies and a huge percentage of the student population be believers. Seems like it would be miserable for the kid. But I guess any port in a storm for the non-religious.

Like I said, doesn't seem like a great fit for either side unless you find a more liberal private school who needs the money in your area.

Which is why I'm 100% against vouchers and why I believe it's whole-heartedly better to fix the public school system so the parents who want their kids to matriculate publicly feel safe and secure in sending their kids to their local school rather than fitting a square peg in a round hole for the detriment of all (most likely).

Aren't most parochial schools generally considered leaps and bounds better than "Christ-based religious schools" both academically and reputationally? I worked with a Jewish guy from Philadelphia who knew every book of the Bible ten times better than my Baylor Alum ass from his time at a parochial school. He joked that most of the Jews in Philadelphia went to these schools and came out better Catholics than the Catholics that went to public school. 

[SydneyCarton 48,110]

9 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

Aren't most parochial schools generally considered leaps and bounds better than "Christ-based religious schools" both academically and reputationally? I worked with a Jewish guy from Philadelphia who knew every book of the Bible ten times better than my Baylor Alum ass from his time at a parochial school. He joked that most of the Jews in Philadelphia went to these schools and came out better Catholics than the Catholics that went to public school. 

Not if actual academics is your priority. 

[SimonBolivar 10,958]

7 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Not if actual academics is your priority. 

Really? I would have thought that the big boys in the parochial scene would be considered much more rigorous than the various FREEDOM!!! religious schools.

[Foosters 17,858]

1 hour ago, slorch said:

Wanna go there?  Who cannot convey a more compelling message about education, to the point that the voucher bullshit even gets considered?

But yeah, wave the fucking team colors. That’s so gotdam productive 

Amazing.

1) Its the dems fault for not doing a better job stopping this!

2)But also, how dare you bring politics into this!

[safe sex 11,735]

This is why "slorch'd" is a thing

[Brisketexan 105,158]

2 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

Really? I would have thought that the big boys in the parochial scene would be considered much more rigorous than the various FREEDOM!!! religious schools.

 

2 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

Not if actual academics is your priority. 

Huh?  The higher-end parochials (The Jesuit schools, Episcopal School of Dallas, etc.) have incredibly strong academic reputations for a reason.  Among them being decades/centuries of experience with genuine academic rigor and the like.  Unlike Southwestern Hill Country Freedom Eagle Jesus Gun Liberty Academy, founded 2017.

FTR, I went to a Jesuit school, and my parents' reasoning was damned well the academic quality, not the fact that we had a theology curriculum.    And also FTR, I don't believe that we should divert any public dollars to private schools.  Public schools are a community resource, necessary for both individual and the common good, AND free from the requirement/indoctrination into any faith tradition (I have high praise for Jesuit, but let's not kid ourselves, they damn well tried to make a good Catholic outta me.  In terms of church membership, they failed).

[tx 3 putt 77,090]

3 hours ago, Nivek said:

My wife is close to giving up. She went looking for homes in Katy on the weekend. Our daughter was excited, but my wife really dislikes it there.

clear lake ?

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13,585]

2 hours ago, Foosters said:

Amazing.

1) Its the dems fault for not doing a better job stopping this!

2)But also, how dare you bring politics into this!

Dammit, I totally skimmed past this part when repped slorch. I am dumb.

[SydneyCarton 48,110]

3 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

Really? I would have thought that the big boys in the parochial scene would be considered much more rigorous than the various FREEDOM!!! religious schools.

 

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

 

Huh?  The higher-end parochials (The Jesuit schools, Episcopal School of Dallas, etc.) have incredibly strong academic reputations for a reason.  Among them being decades/centuries of experience with genuine academic rigor and the like.  Unlike Southwestern Hill Country Freedom Eagle Jesus Gun Liberty Academy, founded 2017.

FTR, I went to a Jesuit school, and my parents' reasoning was damned well the academic quality, not the fact that we had a theology curriculum.    And also FTR, I don't believe that we should divert any public dollars to private schools.  Public schools are a community resource, necessary for both individual and the common good, AND free from the requirement/indoctrination into any faith tradition (I have high praise for Jesuit, but let's not kid ourselves, they damn well tried to make a good Catholic outta me.  In terms of church membership, they failed).

Maybe I misunderstood the OP, but yes they have  much higher standards. I was saying the OP wasn’t actually interested in good academics as his priority. 

[YChang 3,455]

Slorch's example is that freaking weird cognitive conflict that occurs in modern-day GOP voters that I just don't understand one bit. 

[tchookem 3,902]

Wanna go there?  Who cannot convey a more compelling message about education, to the point that the voucher bullshit even gets considered?
But yeah, wave the fucking team colors. That’s so gotdam productive 

I know we're on the same side of this fight, but don't accuse the Dems of dropping the ball regarding messaging. You're falling into the both sides suck trap.

There's plenty of compelling messaging from the Dems, it's just falling on deaf ears.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0fTfUYNiTK/?igsh=MTlsOXprdHN1MnN1cQ==

[tchookem 3,902]

My wife is close to giving up. She went looking for homes in Katy on the weekend. Our daughter was excited, but my wife really dislikes it there.

clear lake ?

I'm betting Cy Fair ISD.

[SydneyCarton 48,110]

4 minutes ago, tchookem said:

I'm betting Cy Fair ISD.

lol Aggie haven. I’d guess woodlands but that’s still a lot of Aggie 

[tchookem 3,902]

lol Aggie haven. I’d guess woodlands but that’s still a lot of Aggie 

I'd still take Woodlands over CyFair... people on that school board don't care what they say out loud.

[tx 3 putt 77,090]

Pearland 

[Satchel 6,938]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

 

Huh?  The higher-end parochials (The Jesuit schools, Episcopal School of Dallas, etc.) have incredibly strong academic reputations for a reason.  Among them being decades/centuries of experience with genuine academic rigor and the like.  Unlike Southwestern Hill Country Freedom Eagle Jesus Gun Liberty Academy, founded 2017.

FTR, I went to a Jesuit school, and my parents' reasoning was damned well the academic quality, not the fact that we had a theology curriculum.    And also FTR, I don't believe that we should divert any public dollars to private schools.  Public schools are a community resource, necessary for both individual and the common good, AND free from the requirement/indoctrination into any faith tradition (I have high praise for Jesuit, but let's not kid ourselves, they damn well tried to make a good Catholic outta me.  In terms of church membership, they failed).

Hump. You obviously have never heard of billionaire Tim Dunn’s Midland Classical Academy 

[Nivek 16,945]

On 3/12/2024 at 10:07 AM, slorch said:

Wanna go there?  Who cannot convey a more compelling message about education, to the point that the voucher bullshit even gets considered?

But yeah, wave the fucking team colors. That’s so gotdam productive 

Um.  This is not a coherent response.  The right has been hell bent on privatizing a public service with the intent of pushing that public money to something else, all the while underfunding it.  Let's just look at a small example.  Special education, which can include anything from speech classes, OT, diaper changes, and other services to offer appropriate education to children with other needs.   Texas has an 8.5% special ed funding.  That started in 2004 under Rick Perry, who appointed a new TEA lead (name escapes me at the moment), who created a goal to push the funding down from 10.7% to 8.5% and then celebrated how much fucking money they saved.   So yeah, own this shit if you voted for these people.  Because the school districts all over Texas didn't just magically land on that same fucking figure.   And this rot, isn't simply because of Trump/MAGA crowd, they are just a catalyst. 

For reference, the national average is 15%.   Do you think it is because we are just genetically superior even with all those immigrants and ESL kids?  Or do you think our teachers are just better (that is the lie the TEA guy tried).   Or maybe we are just underfunding it, and making it so fucking difficult for people even if they have a little means.   More on that in the next paragraph.  

Districts and schools are systemically lying to parents on services available, how to apply for them, and who can get them.  This creates time which the districts are encouraged to stall for (I have spoken about this earlier in the thread, including our own experiences).  Once a written request is received they have 45 school days to respond.  And then they get another 30 calendar days to stall for the first ARD meeting.  This might not seem like a lot, but it creates problems where investigations start while the kid is in one grade and then it gets pushed to another without the kid getting the support they needed.  

Let me bring this closer to home.   How many hours a week did you spend with your son doing his work and teaching him the material that is not being effectively taught?  How many hours did you spend per week talking with the school and district just getting them to do what they are fucking supposed to do?   Because some teachers have opted to do nothing but just pass the kid along, meanwhile he isn't learning in their class.   This isn't me rambling on about perovskite or Alcibiades, this is me, taking his lessons on heat transference and breaking it down, demonstrating examples, helping him comprehend the differences, and then relating it back to his classwork and teaching him the terminology.   There are 2 other kids who are getting neglected to some degree because of how severely fucked up the education is for the first kid.   I had to hire an advocate to help us navigate the situation and join parent groups to see how systemic these issues really are.  

-----------------------

You talk about party, because it does boil down to political parties now.  It used to be that we, or maybe I naively thought, that we used to both want a robust education system which would help our country out in the long term and perpetuate the development of skilled people here.   But I see clearly one political group that has tried to undermine education in a multitude of ways for decades.   And now I get the benefit of seeing how fucked up it is because I have to deal with it.  

Think about what I am really saying.  I might have to leave my home where all my kids have taken their first steps, where my wife and I are happy,  where my kids are happy and have friends and ties simply because the education system in one of the largest cities in the US, with the 5th largest district, in a state with 10s of billions in surplus slush funds, because education is how the right wants to punish us for voting blue.   

So, tell me how I am wrong.  Tell me what I could do better.  Tell me how I should feel.   Tell me this is just in my head.  Tell me I am interpreting it incorrectly.  Tell me there isn't one political party to blame for this.   And tell me if you take any responsibility for causing or supporting it?    

 

[Brisketexan 105,158]

Um.  This is not a coherent response.  The right has been hell bent on privatizing a public service with the intent of pushing that public money to something else, all the while underfunding it.  Let's just look at a small example.  Special education, which can include anything from speech classes, OT, diaper changes, and other services to offer appropriate education to children with other needs.   Texas has an 8.5% special ed funding.  That started in 2004 under Rick Perry, who appointed a new TEA lead (name escapes me at the moment), who created a goal to push the funding down from 10.7% to 8.5% and then celebrated how much fucking money they saved.   So yeah, own this shit if you voted for these people.  Because the school districts all over Texas didn't just magically land on that same fucking figure.   And this rot, isn't simply because of Trump/MAGA crowd, they are just a catalyst. 
For reference, the national average is 15%.   Do you think it is because we are just genetically superior even with all those immigrants and ESL kids?  Or do you think our teachers are just better (that is the lie the TEA guy tried).   Or maybe we are just underfunding it, and making it so fucking difficult for people even if they have a little means.   More on that in the next paragraph.  
Districts and schools are systemically lying to parents on services available, how to apply for them, and who can get them.  This creates time which the districts are encouraged to stall for (I have spoken about this earlier in the thread, including our own experiences).  Once a written request is received they have 45 school days to respond.  And then they get another 30 calendar days to stall for the first ARD meeting.  This might not seem like a lot, but it creates problems where investigations start while the kid is in one grade and then it gets pushed to another without the kid getting the support they needed.  
Let me bring this closer to home.   How many hours a week did you spend with your son doing his work and teaching him the material that is not being effectively taught?  How many hours did you spend per week talking with the school and district just getting them to do what they are fucking supposed to do?   Because some teachers have opted to do nothing but just pass the kid along, meanwhile he isn't learning in their class.   This isn't me rambling on about perovskite or Alcibiades, this is me, taking his lessons on heat transference and breaking it down, demonstrating examples, helping him comprehend the differences, and then relating it back to his classwork and teaching him the terminology.   There are 2 other kids who are getting neglected to some degree because of how severely fucked up the education is for the first kid.   I had to hire an advocate to help us navigate the situation and join parent groups to see how systemic these issues really are.  
-----------------------
You talk about party, because it does boil down to political parties now.  It used to be that we, or maybe I naively thought, that we used to both want a robust education system which would help our country out in the long term and perpetuate the development of skilled people here.   But I see clearly one political group that has tried to undermine education in a multitude of ways for decades.   And now I get the benefit of seeing how fucked up it is because I have to deal with it.  
Think about what I am really saying.  I might have to leave my home where all my kids have taken their first steps, where my wife and I are happy,  where my kids are happy and have friends and ties simply because the education system in one of the largest cities in the US, with the 5th largest district, in a state with 10s of billions in surplus slush funds, because education is how the right wants to punish us for voting blue.   
So, tell me how I am wrong.  Tell me what I could do better.  Tell me how I should feel.   Tell me this is just in my head.  Tell me I am interpreting it incorrectly.  Tell me there isn't one political party to blame for this.   And tell me if you take any responsibility for causing or supporting it?    
 

Sounds to me like you need to pull harder on your bootstraps. And your kids too - you’re never too young to learn that lesson!

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, Nivek said:

Um.  This is not a coherent response.  The right has been hell bent on privatizing a public service with the intent of pushing that public money to something else, all the while underfunding it.  Let's just look at a small example.  Special education, which can include anything from speech classes, OT, diaper changes, and other services to offer appropriate education to children with other needs.   Texas has an 8.5% special ed funding.  That started in 2004 under Rick Perry, who appointed a new TEA lead (name escapes me at the moment), who created a goal to push the funding down from 10.7% to 8.5% and then celebrated how much fucking money they saved.   So yeah, own this shit if you voted for these people.  Because the school districts all over Texas didn't just magically land on that same fucking figure.   And this rot, isn't simply because of Trump/MAGA crowd, they are just a catalyst. 

For reference, the national average is 15%.   Do you think it is because we are just genetically superior even with all those immigrants and ESL kids?  Or do you think our teachers are just better (that is the lie the TEA guy tried).   Or maybe we are just underfunding it, and making it so fucking difficult for people even if they have a little means.   More on that in the next paragraph.  

Districts and schools are systemically lying to parents on services available, how to apply for them, and who can get them.  This creates time which the districts are encouraged to stall for (I have spoken about this earlier in the thread, including our own experiences).  Once a written request is received they have 45 school days to respond.  And then they get another 30 calendar days to stall for the first ARD meeting.  This might not seem like a lot, but it creates problems where investigations start while the kid is in one grade and then it gets pushed to another without the kid getting the support they needed.  

Let me bring this closer to home.   How many hours a week did you spend with your son doing his work and teaching him the material that is not being effectively taught?  How many hours did you spend per week talking with the school and district just getting them to do what they are fucking supposed to do?   Because some teachers have opted to do nothing but just pass the kid along, meanwhile he isn't learning in their class.   This isn't me rambling on about perovskite or Alcibiades, this is me, taking his lessons on heat transference and breaking it down, demonstrating examples, helping him comprehend the differences, and then relating it back to his classwork and teaching him the terminology.   There are 2 other kids who are getting neglected to some degree because of how severely fucked up the education is for the first kid.   I had to hire an advocate to help us navigate the situation and join parent groups to see how systemic these issues really are.  

-----------------------

You talk about party, because it does boil down to political parties now.  It used to be that we, or maybe I naively thought, that we used to both want a robust education system which would help our country out in the long term and perpetuate the development of skilled people here.   But I see clearly one political group that has tried to undermine education in a multitude of ways for decades.   And now I get the benefit of seeing how fucked up it is because I have to deal with it.  

Think about what I am really saying.  I might have to leave my home where all my kids have taken their first steps, where my wife and I are happy,  where my kids are happy and have friends and ties simply because the education system in one of the largest cities in the US, with the 5th largest district, in a state with 10s of billions in surplus slush funds, because education is how the right wants to punish us for voting blue.   

So, tell me how I am wrong.  Tell me what I could do better.  Tell me how I should feel.   Tell me this is just in my head.  Tell me I am interpreting it incorrectly.  Tell me there isn't one political party to blame for this.   And tell me if you take any responsibility for causing or supporting it?    

 

Funding of schools isn’t as simple us us good, them bad. Sic. You know it. I know it.  They know it.

Administration of curriculum isn’t simple either. Again, you either recognize it or live in your illusion.

I get sick of the partisan bullshit, obviously in this case in particular, because  it shouldn’t even be partisan.  Yet it is. We as a society either decide to raise that floor of social mobility or decide to let the underclass rot.  

Fuck that all to hell.

and for the record, I didn’t spend much time administering school work to my kids.  I did observe/ manage their engagement and inspected what we expected.

 

Edited March 14 by slorch

[Brisketexan 105,158]

Funding of schools isn’t as simple us us good, them bad. Sic. You know it. I know it.  They know it.
 

It SHOULDN’T be an “us v them.”…yet here we are. One party/movement has OPENLY declared they want to end public education, and they want to defund it, etc. It SEEMS insane (well, it is), but here we are. The insane has become reality. We need to deal with that reality.

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Sounds to me like you need to pull harder on your bootstraps. And your kids too - you’re never too young to learn that lesson!

It’s fun to take shots at that philosophy; and I have earned that rep, so cool.  That being said, nothing about my outlook/ opinions shared on here about education is rooted in ability or effort.  At least call a fair game, blue.

[HornOnTheBayou 8,931]

22 minutes ago, slorch said:

Funding of schools isn’t as simple us us good, them bad. Sic. You know it. I know it.  They know it.

Actually it is. The leadership of one party spent the entire regular legislative session (and a million special sessions) holding public education funding hostage for school vouchers. 

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

It SHOULDN’T be an “us v them.”…yet here we are. One party/movement has OPENLY declared they want to end public education, and they want to defund it, etc. It SEEMS insane (well, it is), but here we are. The insane has become reality. We need to deal with that reality.

I am saying thee are significant opportunities for countering that position.  It didn’t just come from nothing.  There are causal circumstances.  It is crazy to pretend there are not.

[Guest]

Well.  Obviously this thread is just for flag waiving.

y’all fucking win.

I hope we all don’t lose.  Guess I just don’t care enough.

(returns to shanty.)

Edited March 14 by slorch

[safe sex 11,735]

Cognitive dissonance a little too much for you again?

[hornmpa96 2,618]

Why shouldn’t it be partisan?

For approximately the last 25 years, Texas has been 100% Republican run at the state level. Of course they should own the results. The Republican Governor just held multiple special sessions to push vouchers after receiving a multimillion contribution from an out-of-state contributor pushing vouchers. We have several billionaires in this state essentially pushing for a theocracy and controlling the party who runs this state.

Get out of here with that bullshit.

[Nivek 16,945]

Funding of schools isn’t as simple us us good, them bad. Sic. You know it. I know it.  They know it.

Administration of curriculum isn’t simple either. Again, you either recognize it or live in your illusion.
I get sick of the partisan bullshit, obviously in this case in particular, because  it shouldn’t even be partisan.  Yet it is. We as a society either decide to raise that floor of social mobility or decide to let the underclass rot.  
Fuck that all to hell.
and for the record, I didn’t spend much time administering school work to my kids.  I did observe/ manage their engagement and inspected what we expected.
 

First, I appreciate the Bob Dole style of communication and i can still hear Dan Ackroyd’s version in my head.

How is it not an “us” vs. “then” when one political party literally started this and keeps running with it. Why do you not see it that way? It is not like there are an army of Republicans running against the education fuckery or speaking out against it? Or running against their own party members to try and help protect and bolster education?

I truly envy that you were able to peek in, set expectations with your kids. I would love to be able to just talk with them here or there and continue to teach them accelerated math. TEA mandated that class sizes were to be fewer than 22 students. My son is in a class of over 40. My 4th grade daughter is in a class of about 30 students and we are lucky another teacher has close to 40 students. How is this allowed? Who is advocating for or against this?

[safe sex 11,735]

16 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

n/m

Appreciate it

[Brian Fantana 6,689]

2 hours ago, slorch said:

Well.  Obviously this thread is just for flag waiving.

y’all fucking win.

I hope we all don’t lose.  Guess I just don’t care enough.

(returns to shanty.)

Refute ONE of the god damn points and stop playing the FUCKING victim for once in your life. It's as plain as fucking day for anyone to see. One party is fucking up public education in this state, and it ain't the Democrats. Open your fucking eyes. You can't bothsides everything, this is a one party fucking issue and it should be obvious to anyone that's paying the slightest attention.