The destruction of America's public education system

[atomheartbevo 89758]

1 hour ago, tchookem said:

I have yet to hear someone explain how vouchers help public education. The governor is the caretaker of public education. It's a temporary gig for a permanent position.

The governor is getting millions in donations from a Pennsylvania billionaire to push vouchers.  I have yet to hear someone explain why a Pennsylvania billionaire should have a say in the education of Texas kids, because Hot Wheels is keeping that info to himself.

[Brisketexan 105180]

Thanks for the insight, I wasn't aware of that rule. I'm in a couple local groups that are trying to organize to combat this kind of stuff, but it's in the infant stages. I can raise the issue and see what they say, but we would likely need a legal organization to help litigate these types of issues. Do you have any suggestions on who to contact? Is there an ACLU type org that would help?
Honestly, I have no idea how to proceed with this stuff, it's all new to me. Any guidance is much appreciated.

Bill Aleshire handles cases like this in Central Texas, and he knows his stuff. If he isn’t the guy to handle it, he’ll know someone in the Houston area who will.

https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Find_A_Lawyer&template=/Customsource/MemberDirectory/MemberDirectoryDetail.cfm&ContactID=206160

If that doesn’t work, google him. Seriously, start with him.

[UpperWestside 6172]

1 hour ago, YGIFS said:

Wait, what the fuck did I miss?  Who the fuck is Miles?  And they can't teach about how we nearly eradicated polio?  

What in the fucking fuck? Polio?  I get the Covid vaccine thing.  I don't agree, but yeah it was done rather quickly and there are obviously some side-effects.  But fucking polio?  What in the hell is happening?  Even the leftover Nazis were like, "Yeah, that Salk Jew Doctor is a pretty good guy actually."  But not in Texas?  What the fuck anymore?  

Mike Miles. You want to brush up on this comic book villain. Currently in charge of HISD, but also a guy who has charter schools in Texas and Colorado. Transferring a few million from his Texas schools to ones in Colorado that are in serious debt. In effect he is taking Texas taxpayer money to pay off Colorado school debts. He also ran DISD for three years and managed to wind up being universally hated before leaving the district. 

[HenryJames 66135]

8 hours ago, UpperWestside said:

Mike Miles. You want to brush up on this comic book villain. Currently in charge of HISD, but also a guy who has charter schools in Texas and Colorado. Transferring a few million from his Texas schools to ones in Colorado that are in serious debt. In effect he is taking Texas taxpayer money to pay off Colorado school debts. He also ran DISD for three years and managed to wind up being universally hated before leaving the district. 

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/14/hisd-mike-miles-tea-investigation/

[kevwun 15811]

Miles has also been forcing principals to resign in HISD for no reason. A couple had recently won principal of the year and no reason was given.

Edited May 16 by kevwun

[tx 3 putt 77235]

 

 

[ChuckNorrisActionJeans 2680]

6 hours ago, HenryJames said:

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/14/hisd-mike-miles-tea-investigation/

Oh FFS. Is there any entity with jurisdiction to investigate this other than the fucking TEA, or Paxton?? We are a full-blown kleptocracy of the right with this shit. 

And Mike Miles -- ew I've seen better heads on boils. YIKES 

[Smax 3800]

13 minutes ago, ChuckNorrisActionJeans said:

Oh FFS. Is there any entity with jurisdiction to investigate this other than the fucking TEA, or Paxton?? We are a full-blown kleptocracy of the right with this shit. 

And Mike Miles -- ew I've seen better heads on boils. YIKES 

 

 

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/05/16/grave-concerns-rep-sylvia-garcia-calls-for-federal-audit-into-houston-isd-sup-mike-miles-colorado-school/

Quote

HOUSTON – The fight against Houston Independent School District superintendent Mike Miles continues and now, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia has entered the ring by calling for a federal audit into a previous school he worked at.

In a letter addressed to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Garcia cites she has “grave concerns” over how educational dollars were being utilized in the district.

“With the undemocratic takeover HISD by the State of Texas, I have grave concerns about the financial wellbeing of the district,” Congresswoman Garcia wrote.

The congresswoman’s letter is the latest callout after a report by Spectrum News that resulted in calls for a federal investigation by the Houston Teachers Federation, a coalition group of parents, teachers, and students, and Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis.

Spectrum also reported that Miles received $40,000 last year consulting for Third Future Schools, which was dealing with deep financial setbacks leading to the closure of a Colorado school and $5 million in unpaid debt.

Before this news came to light, Miles was facing serious backlash from parents and teachers after widespread job cuts to close a $450 million budget gap. This latest development is also on the heels of an increasing number of teachers and principals finding out they will not be asked back next year, sparking wide protests that have also gotten Congresswoman Garcia’s attention.

“Widespread layoffs have been announced of widely acclaimed and beloved teachers, administrators, and staff members, leading to families protesting outside their neighborhood schools,” she added.

Miles has rebuffed any allegations of wrongdoing saying they are misrepresentation and baseless.”

Regardless, Congresswoman Garcia appeared to empathize with the call-to-actions expressed by parents and concerned HISD community members in her letter by asking the Department of Education to step in.

“I understand that the Department of Education is critically important to the wellbeing of future generations and ensuring that all stakeholders are good financial stewards of public funds is a part of that work,” she concluded. “Houston is a vibrant and diverse community, and our state government is punishing us for that; we need your help.”

 

[Brisketexan 105180]

22 minutes ago, ChuckNorrisActionJeans said:

We are a full-blown kleptocracy of the right with this shit. 

Some folks have known this for quite a while.  Nobody cares.  It is only going to get worse.  Including for the idiots who keep voting for them, who stupidly think they are on team Leopard.  No, you fucking idiots, you are on team "idiots who will eventually get their faces eaten by the Leopards they keep voting for."

[254512 236]

On 5/15/2024 at 6:24 PM, Bozo_Casanova said:

Is this Raphael without the beard?

[HornOnTheBayou 8942]

Oh for fuck's sake, Austin ISD.

Quote

Amie Ortiz, AISD executive director of talent engagement, pitched the idea to bring Breathe for Change to AISD teachers. Ortiz said as someone with a background in teaching, she wanted to do something that would impact staff and trickle down to students.

“[Teachers] work tirelessly for students and put themselves last,” Ortiz said. “This is something where they learn skills to really prioritize their own well-being.”

Breathe for Change offers training to educators through social-emotional learning practices, mindfulness and yoga to help them maintain their own well-being and bring these strategies to their classrooms.

Ortiz worked with the district’s health care provider, Aetna, to receive funding for the program, which can cost up to $3,000 per teacher.

I can see where this is going. Next August when teachers are going through beginning-of-the-year professional development, there's going to be a required "relaxation time" led by one of these wanna-be yogis. You know what would relax me? Just give me the fucking money! Or if you want to do something nice for me, take the money and get me two high-end escorts, a bottle of tequila, and a hotel room downtown. That would be way more relaxing than yoga on the school gym floor.

[Biff Tannen 45695]

1 hour ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Oh for fuck's sake, Austin ISD.

I can see where this is going. Next August when teachers are going through beginning-of-the-year professional development, there's going to be a required "relaxation time" led by one of these wanna-be yogis. You know what would relax me? Just give me the fucking money! Or if you want to do something nice for me, take the money and get me two high-end escorts, a bottle of tequila, and a hotel room downtown. That would be way more relaxing than yoga on the school gym floor.

Wait, if it’s being paid for by insurance, why do you care?  

[HornOnTheBayou 8942]

32 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Wait, if it’s being paid for by insurance, why do you care?  

It's not the wasted money that bothers me. Well, it bothers me that it's not being wasted on hookers and booze for me, but I'll get over it.

It's just silly for AISD to trumpet they are solving the teacher burnout problem by teaching yoga. Twisting my fat ass into pretzels in front of my coworkers is not my idea of relaxing and doesn't solve the problem of overcrowded classrooms and lack of supplies.

[tx 3 putt 77235]

 

[Neonmoon 38130]

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

[pacman 7365]

[tx 3 putt 77235]

It’s a huge scam 

[Brisketexan 105180]

It’s a huge scam 

But not Brisketexan’s Freedomeaglejesusgunlibertypatriot Academy for Freedom and anti-wokeness. We are completely aboveboard, and if you say differently, you’re part of the woke mob.

[tx 3 putt 77235]

11 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

But not Brisketexan’s Freedomeaglejesusgunlibertypatriot Academy for Freedom and anti-wokeness. We are completely aboveboard, and if you say differently, you’re part of the woke mob.

Brisket every weds !!!

enchiladas on Thursdays !!!!

[Brisketexan 105180]

5 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

Brisket every weds !!!

enchiladas on Thursdays !!!!

Dude.  No.  All realAmericanwhitepeople food only.  Hot dish.  PB&J.  Freedom Fries.  Baloney sandwiches (I'm not gonna burn my profits on feeding anything expensive to the Precious Patriots in my care).

[Nivek 16949]

For those of you without kids in HISD.  Miles directed them to tell parents at 9PM last night and no earlier if there would be school the following day.  The Frank Black Middle School Principal (on her way out) did a decent thing and told everyone there would not be school.  The Oak Forest Elm. Principal sent out a coded message letting parents know.    

Miles stringing along parents until 9PM the night before, just to be an asshole to parents, kids and Houston in general.

[Brisketexan 105180]

9 minutes ago, Nivek said:

For those of you without kids in HISD.  Miles directed them to tell parents at 9PM last night and no earlier if there would be school the following day.  The Frank Black Middle School Principal (on her way out) did a decent thing and told everyone there would not be school.  The Oak Forest Elm. Principal sent out a coded message letting parents know.    

Miles stringing along parents until 9PM the night before, just to be an asshole to parents, kids and Houston in general.

It's Texas governance -- the assholery is the point.

It's literally the ONLY point.  We have a state regime that literally has a one-line political platform: "Be complete fucking assholes."  That's it.  There's nothing else to it.  Lotta blank space on the page, because that one line is the whole fucking thing.

[Dahobbs 17627]

17 minutes ago, Nivek said:

For those of you without kids in HISD.  Miles directed them to tell parents at 9PM last night and no earlier if there would be school the following day.  The Frank Black Middle School Principal (on her way out) did a decent thing and told everyone there would not be school.  The Oak Forest Elm. Principal sent out a coded message letting parents know.    

Miles stringing along parents until 9PM the night before, just to be an asshole to parents, kids and Houston in general.

Around 3 pm yesterday HISD also providing a list of schools that had power, cooling, were ready to feed children, and would be open. That listing included schools like Helms that definitely did not have power (I know because I was there helping clean up). And it included schools like Heights High School that has no cooling (workers are trying to fix the AC). At least for Helms HISD eventually fixed its mistake at 9:5 pm and included it on a listing of "campuses that we planned to open [that] no longer have adequate power and air conditioning and will be closed." The Heights High School, the principal sent around an email asking parents to bring fans for the school while the AC is being worked on. 

Edited May 20 by Dahobbs

[atomheartbevo 89758]

12 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

It’s a huge scam 

I don't know what the bigger scam is - the for-profit schools that cut every corner they can (which is what sounds like happened in Louisiana) or our state leadership convincing some of the MAGA idiots that their kids will get into some kind of amazing private school (some of the rurals are wary since they won't benefit in any way).  The really good (exclusive) private schools were not setup to make a quick buck, but to prep kids for universities, kids whose parents don't need $8,000 from the state to get their kids into those schools, and whose parents are involved with those schools.  And said schools try to only accept and then turn out the best kids they can, so those kids then do well and then give back as alumni.  These private schools the vouchers are targeting give no fucks about where their students will end up, because Blinn and aggy takes everybody.

[Nivek 16949]

31 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Around 3 pm yesterday HISD also providing a list of schools that had power, cooling, were ready to feed children, and would be open. That listing included schools like Helms that definitely did not have power (I know because I was there helping clean up). And it included schools like Heights High School that has no cooling (workers are trying to fix the AC). At least for Helms HISD eventually fixed its mistake at 9:5 pm and included it on a listing of "campuses that we planned to open [that] no longer have adequate power and air conditioning and will be closed." The Heights High School, the principal sent around an email asking parents to bring fans for the school while the AC is being worked on. 

36 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

It's Texas governance -- the assholery is the point.

It's literally the ONLY point.  We have a state regime that literally has a one-line political platform: "Be complete fucking assholes."  That's it.  There's nothing else to it.  Lotta blank space on the page, because that one line is the whole fucking thing.

At one point being an asshole was an insult.  Now it is a job description. 

[Brisketexan 105180]

14 minutes ago, Nivek said:

At one point being an asshole was an insult.  Now it is a job description. 

And a campaign ad.  "Look how much of an asshole I am!  Vote for me!"

[tx 3 putt 77235]

15 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I don't know what the bigger scam is - the for-profit schools that cut every corner they can (which is what sounds like happened in Louisiana) or our state leadership convincing some of the MAGA idiots that their kids will get into some kind of amazing private school (some of the rurals are wary since they won't benefit in any way).  The really good (exclusive) private schools were not setup to make a quick buck, but to prep kids for universities, kids whose parents don't need $8,000 from the state to get their kids into those schools, and whose parents are involved with those schools.  And said schools try to only accept and then turn out the best kids they can, so those kids then do well and then give back as alumni.  These private schools the vouchers are targeting give no fucks about where their students will end up, because Blinn and aggy takes everybody.

1. blinn rejected Rittenhouse 😂😂

2. I had a friend, she was kinder teacher at some Baptist private school. Almost zero college, and no teaching degree or certs. Her mom and grandma were both teachers, and they helped her a lot. She was giving it her all for sure, but anyone could walk in and teach class there 

[WithoutAClue 15397]

[Stringer 1439]

So, for months, I have been trying to get my head around why vouchers are good. Last night, I was thinking about the flow of the voucher program in regards to Paragon Prep here in Austin. I don’t know their tuition, but let’s assume it’s $10k.

So, any student would get $10k of taxpayer money to decide where to go to school, so Paragon Prep gets that and the family would owe $0. Great for the family! But Paragon Prep already gets more applicants than they accept, so they decide to up tuition to $15k. They would get the $10k from the taxpayer funds and then $5k from the family.

Is that right? So Paragon Prep just gets to raise their revenue by 50% on the backs of state taxpayers?

Oh, did I mention that Paragon is owned by a PE Fund owned by “Chinese persons residing in Hong Kong”? So, now we’re just shipping Texas tax dollars to Hong Kong?

[Brisketexan 105180]

6 minutes ago, Stringer said:

So, for months, I have been trying to get my head around why vouchers are good. Last night, I was thinking about the flow of the voucher program in regards to Paragon Prep here in Austin. I don’t know their tuition, but let’s assume it’s $10k.

So, any student would get $10k of taxpayer money to decide where to go to school, so Paragon Prep gets that and the family would owe $0. Great for the family! But Paragon Prep already gets more applicants than they accept, so they decide to up tuition to $15k. They would get the $10k from the taxpayer funds and then $5k from the family.

Is that right? So Paragon Prep just gets to raise their revenue by 50% on the backs of state taxpayers?

Oh, did I mention that Paragon is owned by a PE Fund owned by “Chinese persons residing in Hong Kong”? So, now we’re just shipping Texas tax dollars to Hong Kong?

You're getting some of it.

There are plenty of good, ethical, long-tenured private schools in the state that won't play that game: Paragon is likely one of them, St. Marks, the Jesuit schools, St. Agnes, ESD, etc.  They'll still accept the same number of kids, but now the group of kids who need financial aid will be reduced.

There are also plenty of schools that aren't as ethical (and some to be founded in short order, but my Freedomeaglegunjesuspatriot Academy is NOT among them, and I won't have you besmirch our good name!), and they will absolutely charge whatever they can to maximize their revenue.  Because they will be purely dollar-extraction enterprises, built to take tax dollars from Texas taxpayers and put them in the pockets of wealthy donors to the Regime.

And then, as a bonus, public schools will be fucked and starved of funding, as is the stated intention and design of the Regime and its biggest supporters.  Because ignorant and uneducated rubes are 1) their future voting base, and 2) their future wage slaves, voting repeatedly for the very people and policies that have buttfucked them unceasingly, because "they ain't no woke libtards!"

[chainsaw 9872]

2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

You're getting some of it.

There are plenty of good, ethical, long-tenured private schools in the state that won't play that game: Paragon is likely one of them, St. Marks, the Jesuit schools, St. Agnes, ESD, etc.  They'll still accept the same number of kids, but now the group of kids who need financial aid will be reduced.

There are also plenty of schools that aren't as ethical (and some to be founded in short order, but my Freedomeaglegunjesuspatriot Academy is NOT among them, and I won't have you besmirch our good name!), and they will absolutely charge whatever they can to maximize their revenue.  Because they will be purely dollar-extraction enterprises, built to take tax dollars from Texas taxpayers and put them in the pockets of wealthy donors to the Regime.

And then, as a bonus, public schools will be fucked and starved of funding, as is the stated intention and design of the Regime and its biggest supporters.  Because ignorant and uneducated rubes are 1) their future voting base, and 2) their future wage slaves, voting repeatedly for the very people and policies that have buttfucked them unceasingly, because "they ain't no woke libtards!"

If Texas dems are smart they will infiltrate the public high school boosters and explain to them how Greg Abbott and his evangelical bosses want to destroy TXHSFB as we know it.

[Brisketexan 105180]

2 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

If Texas dems are smart they will infiltrate the public high school boosters and explain to them how Greg Abbott and his evangelical bosses want to destroy TXHSFB as we know it.

They already have.  It isn't enough.  The insane MAGA draw is just too strong.  The faces are going to keep voting for the Leopards until there are no faces left to eat.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

5 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

You're getting some of it.

There are plenty of good, ethical, long-tenured private schools in the state that won't play that game: Paragon is likely one of them, St. Marks, the Jesuit schools, St. Agnes, ESD, etc.  They'll still accept the same number of kids, but now the group of kids who need financial aid will be reduced.

There are also plenty of schools that aren't as ethical (and some to be founded in short order, but my Freedomeaglegunjesuspatriot Academy is NOT among them, and I won't have you besmirch our good name!), and they will absolutely charge whatever they can to maximize their revenue.  Because they will be purely dollar-extraction enterprises, built to take tax dollars from Texas taxpayers and put them in the pockets of wealthy donors to the Regime.

And then, as a bonus, public schools will be fucked and starved of funding, as is the stated intention and design of the Regime and its biggest supporters.  Because ignorant and uneducated rubes are 1) their future voting base, and 2) their future wage slaves, voting repeatedly for the very people and policies that have buttfucked them unceasingly, because "they ain't no woke libtards!"

good school or bad school, the private tuition is being subsidized by the state. that subsidy comes from education funds, reducing the per-head funding in public schools.  there doesn't have to be a dishonest school in the state for this to result in hurting public education.

[Brisketexan 105180]

Just now, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

good school or bad school, the private tuition is being subsidized by the state. that subsidy comes from education funds, reducing the per-head funding in public schools.  there doesn't have to be a dishonest school in the state for this to result in hurting public education.

I know.  That's why I said the third thing.  Maybe you missed it.

[DaysOff 7961]

They already have.  It isn't enough.  The insane MAGA draw is just too strong.  The faces are going to keep voting for the Leopards until there are no faces left to eat.

Well, I'm glad Sark can recruit nationally.

[Brisketexan 105180]

Also, combine the voucher deal with other plans to cripple schools with unfunded mandates:  https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/school-safety-issues-central-texas-districts-struggle-to-comply-with-house-bill-3/269-294efe5e-719f-47e3-89c2-829f0aa2aa9f

It's all a feature, not a bug.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10331]

Let's not forget Abbott is looking to provide voucher amounts GREATER than the money currently provided for those students going to public schools that have much higher legal requirements/costs.

[SydneyCarton 48134]

And that private schools can reject whoever they want from being accepted. Like, you know, THOSE people. 

[BevoAbyss 2072]

For decades, the obvious goal has been crystal clear, at least since W was running things. 

-- To completely undermine the public secular schools to empower Christian-Evangelical-Fundamentalist domination, with all their idiot world creationist anti-science, bogus BS history, faith-based fact-free worldviews.

-- What's eventually left of the public schools will be little more than educational work camps with massively overworked, underpaid teachers, trying to educate poor frustrated students ... with hallways and playground patrolled by armed guards.

-- Meanwhile, the Christian schools will be rolling in $$$, with Bible "education" for the future frat boy fascists to run the state, while the sorority girls raise the kiddos just like Joel Osteen and all the preachers say it should be ... with the poor kids working as wage slaves at the Starbucks drive through serving the sorority moms in their monster SUVs.

I'll say it again: Christianity gets a free pass in America, no matter how much the insanity and hypocrisy. And that unlimited free pass will be the death of democracy, sanity, and secularism in Texas and this country. 

Those who voted for W enabled all this stupidity.

Edited May 20 by BevoAbyss

[HornOnTheBayou 8942]

30 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

And that private schools can reject whoever they want from being accepted. Like, you know, THOSE people. 

That can also include kids with ADHD, dyslexia, etc. You know the types of vulnerable kids that can be very successful if they are given help and guidance, but there won't be any more help or guidance because of the resulting loss of funding for public schools.

Edited May 20 by HornOnTheBayou

[BevoAbyss 2072]

17 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

@BevoAbysshas spoken and ruled thusly. 

Nah, I have't ruled anything. Just observing...

While sitting on the edge of the abyss and sipping tequila ... as Texas slides inexorably over the edge ... to be followed by the rest of America. 

[atomheartbevo 89758]

13 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

Can you imagine the level this guy must be on if that stuff is considered woke?

People who are scared of "woke" whatever usually can't define "woke" when you ask them on the spot.

And they usually overlap with the idiots who foam at the mouth over "CRT" even thought they typically can't define it either.

These people get upset by things like this being taught in schools: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/secession/2feb1861.html because it shows that the Texas government of the 1850s/1860s was hell-bent on preserving slavery "in all future time":

Quote

Texas abandoned her separate national existence and consented to become one of the Confederated States to promote her welfare, insure domestic tranquility and secure more substantially the blessings of peace and liberty to her people. She was received into the confederacy with her own constitution, under the guarantee of the federal constitution and the compact of annexation, that she should enjoy these blessings. She was received as a commonwealth holding, maintaining and protecting the institution known as negro slavery--the servitude of the African to the white race within her limits--a relation that had existed from the first settlement of her wilderness by the white race, and which her people intended should exist in all future time. Her institutions and geographical position established the strongest ties between her and other slave-holding States of the confederacy. Those ties have been strengthened by association. But what has been the course of the government of the United States, and of the people and authorities of the non-slave-holding States, since our connection with them?

These morons try to tell you what our founding fathers or politicians from over a century-and-a-half-ago meant, but when you quote the actual writings of those politicians, the morons lose their shit and try to claim that they didn't really mean what they were writing down and signing and using a reason to do what they did in the 1860s.

[Brisketexan 105180]

1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

People who are scared of "woke" whatever usually can't define "woke" when you ask them on the spot.

And they usually overlap with the idiots who foam at the mouth over "CRT" even thought they typically can't define it either.

These people get upset by things like this being taught in schools: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/ref/abouttx/secession/2feb1861.html because it shows that the Texas government of the 1850s/1860s was hell-bent on preserving slavery "in all future time":

These morons try to tell you what our founding fathers or politicians from over a century-and-a-half-ago meant, but when you quote the actual writings of those politicians, the morons lose their shit and try to claim that they didn't really mean what they were writing down and signing and using a reason to do what they did in the 1860s.

Well, that's because -- and this is really, really important, it kinda explains everything we're dealing with -- MAGAs are breathtakingly stupid.  We're talking "I have a good imagination, and not in my wildest dreams could I imagine someone that stupid" levels of stupidity.

[atomheartbevo 89758]

1 hour ago, Stringer said:

Is that right? So Paragon Prep just gets to raise their revenue by 50% on the backs of state taxpayers?

Oh, did I mention that Paragon is owned by a PE Fund owned by “Chinese persons residing in Hong Kong”? So, now we’re just shipping Texas tax dollars to Hong Kong?

44 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

And that private schools can reject whoever they want from being accepted. Like, you know, THOSE people. 

Correct.  The really nice private schools that some MAGA idiots think they will be able to get their kids with vouchers into still won't take their kids in, but will benefit financially.  If you want your kid in a good private school, and your kid matches what that school wants, and you don't quite have enough money, there is financial aid/scholarships/whatever that can make it happen if that school wants your kid. With that said, many/most of these schools prefer parents who don't need vouchers, because parents who can afford it without government help probably have a little extra cash laying around that they will donate to those schools, or at the very least, there's no issue with the checks clearing.

This is all about making a bunch of wealthy Republican donors even wealthier by ramping up a bunch of for-profit private schools that will probably pack the classrooms with a lot more kids-per-teacher than is good for education.

And the rural counties are going to be turbo-fucked.

[BevoAbyss 2072]

25 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

the Texas government of the 1850s/1860s was hell-bent on preserving slavery "in all future time":

Indeed. But there is much more. And it will never be taught in Texas schools.

After the Alamo and founding of Texas and even after the Civil War, the State of Texas -- populated with all those Christian settlers from Europe seeking "religious freedom" -- enforced a massive ethnic cleaning program (some would say genocide) to annihilate the Native Americans and seize the remaining lands in West Texas. How did UT get the massive lands in the Permian Basin, after all?

From the Amazon blurb:

"Portraying 19th-century Texas as a cauldron of racist violence, Gary Clayton Anderson shows that the ethnic warfare dominating the Texas frontier can best be described as ethnic cleansing....

Piercing the very heart of Lone Star mythology, Anderson tells how the Texas government encouraged the Texas Rangers to annihilate Indian villages, including women and children. This policy of terror succeeded: by the 1870s, Indians had been driven from central and western Texas."

The real history is far different than the Christian version or John Wayne's Alamo Hollywood propaganda.

Edited May 20 by BevoAbyss

[Brisketexan 105180]

11 minutes ago, BevoAbyss said:

Indeed. But there is much more.

After the Alamo and founding of Texas and even after the Civil War, the State of Texas -- populated with all those Christian settlers from Europe seeking "religious freedom" -- enforced a massive ethnic cleaning program to annihilate the Native Americans and seize the remaining lands in West Texas. How did UT get the Permian Basin, after all?

From the Amazon blurb:

"Portraying 19th-century Texas as a cauldron of racist violence, Gary Clayton Anderson shows that the ethnic warfare dominating the Texas frontier can best be described as ethnic cleansing....

Piercing the very heart of Lone Star mythology, Anderson tells how the Texas government encouraged the Texas Rangers to annihilate Indian villages, including women and children. This policy of terror succeeded: by the 1870s, Indians had been driven from central and western Texas."

The real history is far different than the Christian version or John Wayne's Alamo Hollywood propaganda.

Just a few years ago, staunch Republican Jerry Patterson helped lead the charge of remembering, memorializing, and taking some official steps to heal some of the harm done by the Porvenir Massacre -- the 1918 slaughter of 15 people of mexican descent by the Texas Rangers.  A racially motivated mass murder by state actors.  Which is, as most sane people would agree, a BAD thing that should not be repeated.

Jerry Patterson certainly thought so: https://bigbendsentinel.com/2021/08/11/amateur-historian-continues-to-raise-awareness-of-porvenir-massacre/

Today, just a few years later, Jerry Patterson has no place in the Texas GQP.  I know Jerry, I've worked with him.  He's as old-school conservative as they come -- there's plenty we disagreed about.  But he believed in Texas, and in serving ALL the people of Texas.  Today, he's a woke libtard who couldn't even get 30% of the vote in a GQP primary.

His stance on Porvenir would get him shamed out of any modern GQP gathering, because 1) how dare you bring up history that might make White Texas look bad, and 2) what are you doing standing up for those dirty mexican rapists and criminals anyway?  The Rangers shoulda killed a lot more of em!

Edited May 20 by Brisketexan

[Nivek 16949]

HISD had its budget workshop yesterday, it is livestreamed to YouTube.

A couple of take-aways:

They decided to move the meeting up to 4 PM due to the number of speakers that have been showing up for their 60 seconds (an impossibly short time to talk about budget concerns) in order to limit the number of active participants (during school hours) and to try to get out of there early.   With 200+ people regularly showing up pissed off, they just sit through it emotionless and often checked out until the end.   Yesterday, one of the HISD board members started laughing as the last speaker started calling them out for being complicit in the corruption.   Here is their presentation materials.

The finance guy (Jim Terry) gets up there and starts talking about utter nonsense and generic statements about commitment to quality education but never goes into details what that means (because it is to lull people to sleep before he gets to the numbers, IMO).  He talks about the potential taxable property value and exemptions as if this is relevant.  Never getting to the point of what money is being allocated to HISD from property taxes of residents and what is being siphoned off (he did talk about how RobinHood took 1.1 billion from HISD in 2016-2017, but how is this fucking relevant?).   He harps on about attendance and how attendance is linked to achievement, then shows a figure that indicates attendance is nearly 93%.  Is he attempting to blame residents for this? Is this low? No follow up or context.    He then makes a suggestion that May 5th 2023 was the perfect representation of student attendance and that should be the day in which the future budget should be based.   Not some averaging which might make more sense.   He is clearly a big thinker.   He surprisingly shows something about how poorly funded Texas schools are relative to the nation and is completely tone deaf as to why and who created this.  He remarked about other school districts also having funding issues, again without point to the cause.   He talks about the decreasing enrollment in HISD schools by approximately 4000 students from last year.   No context as to why provided.   I know of families that have kids in SPED programs that left.  They left in response to the shitty support service they were getting.  As a reminder Miles fired the Autism Specialists in the district, 1 week before the start of the school year.   

The finance guy finally gets to the budget.  From what I can tell, nearly 20% is going to administrative overhead but it is partitioned in smaller groups.  There are facilities, food, bussing service included, but also nearly 77 million dollars put into something called "Payments to Tax Increments Fund" which from a quick google search appeared to be an HISD fund set up to build up infrastructure or development.   Here is an older document which also talks about the threshold for how HISD is bound to this shitty agreement.

There is one more thing to think about.  With all of the decreasing enrollment (they harped on 14% over the past few years) why are class sizes getting larger?    Ill stop here.  

 

[Texas Jeff 1945]

Austin ISD's budget is in bad shape, although IMHO the admin is doing the best they can with the constraints they have.

Austin ISD thought that their deficit for next year was going to be around $60 million, and they had a goal of cutting $30 million without touching classroom spending to get to a $30 million deficit for next year.  Attendance was less than projected and home values did not go up as much as planned.  They are now an additional $30 million in the hole ... so even with the admin cuts they are looking at a possible $60 million shortfall.

Once solution to this is to ask the voters to up the tax rate to close the gap.  They can, with voter approval, raise taxes by 9.1 cents -- this is called a VATRE tax election.  0.1 of these cents are "golden" pennies, meaning that the district gets to keep all of the money.  9.0 cents of these are copper pennies, which are subject to recapture.  At Austin ISD's recapture rate, 75% of the copper penny funds will go to the state, and the district will keep 25% of the taxes raised.  The state currently has a surplus, so these "extra" Robin Hood funds won't go towards education, they will just make the surplus larger.

Austin ISD would get to keep about $41 million of the new tax revenue.  From that bucket, Austin ISD teachers and librarians would get about $15 million and district would spend about $25 million on other stuff (individual specialists, registrars, reducing the deficit).  The state of Texas would get about $120 million.  Austin voters will probably have a chance to vote for or against this tax at the November election.

The district can't deficit spend forever.  Within a few years, their fund balance will hit a critically low level and there will be no more savings to spend.  Without legislative action, they are turbo-screwed at that point, even if the new VATRE tax passes.

Also, Austin ISD is currently under a TEA monitorship because of past problems with special education evaluations.  As part of their punishment, the trustees had to agree to a "Lone Star Governance" TEA-approved process.  Part of this process mandates that the board can only spend 50% of their time talking about issues that do not relate to student outcomes.  The budget is a non-student outcome issue.  So if they want to talk about the budget for an hour, they have to also talk about "student outcomes" for an hour.  Talking about student outcomes is great, but at some point in the year you have to buckle down and talk about the friggin' budget for a few days -- and the board has to be very careful to not violate their agreement with TEA to avoid a state takeover.

[Fudge Nuggets 19209]

On 5/20/2024 at 3:02 PM, Stringer said:

So, for months, I have been trying to get my head around why vouchers are good. Last night, I was thinking about the flow of the voucher program in regards to Paragon Prep here in Austin. I don’t know their tuition, but let’s assume it’s $10k.

So, any student would get $10k of taxpayer money to decide where to go to school, so Paragon Prep gets that and the family would owe $0. Great for the family! But Paragon Prep already gets more applicants than they accept, so they decide to up tuition to $15k. They would get the $10k from the taxpayer funds and then $5k from the family.

Is that right? So Paragon Prep just gets to raise their revenue by 50% on the backs of state taxpayers?

Oh, did I mention that Paragon is owned by a PE Fund owned by “Chinese persons residing in Hong Kong”? So, now we’re just shipping Texas tax dollars to Hong Kong?

Paragon Prep would fire its CEO and CFO if they didn’t jack up tuition by $10k at least.

[Captainant 27690]

44 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Paragon Prep's shareholders would fire its CEO and CFO if they didn’t jack up tuition by $10k at least.

Ftfy