VicMan

1. The significance was understated, considering the dates and... 2. You said: "as for charter schools why would you bring them up when you seem opposed to the idea of 100% vouchers and a charter school is the closest thing to a voucher school....." - There are two different types of charters, TexasVines * An internal charter is a charter school affiliated with a school district. It follows less rules than a regular school, but it is still tied to the district * A state charter is a charter school that has NO affiliation with the local school district. It answers only to the state * The early college schools and International Studies are all internal charters; they are all affiliated with HISD * Allowing charter schools (already the case) and establishing vouchers that allow students to attend private school (not the case) are two totally different things, TexasVines. Some taxpayers do not want their money going towards private schools. Also the Milwaukee school voucher program has demonstrated that school voucher programs really don't change much: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0523/p01s03-usgn.html - The article says: "Hers is the sort of story Milwaukee's school-choice advocates cite when touting the oldest and largest voucher program in the country. Now it's expanding, but 16 years after it began, the policy is still controversial and has shown few documented benefits." You said: "and again even tossing in 4 more charter schools only gets you to 22.5% of HISD alternative schools that you have listed that are not affiliated with a regular campus... 7 / (27 + 4) = 22.5% so that tells me still that 77.5% of magnet schools are set up to mask under performance of the main school which is pathetic" - Then doesn't that mean there should be more magnet schools that are not parts of regular campuses? First you stated "according to this HISD website HISD currently has 27 magnet schools INCLUDING STERLING and WORTHING.....so again how many more do they need" (in the Jones thread) and now there's this? In Philadelphia, however, there is a program which has private businesses pay into a private voucher fund for private school voucher students. Vines, if anything I am FOR a privately-funded private school voucher fund - It means that the schools do not have to worry about government interference, and it means that kids get to go to private school for reduced prices.

Huh? Only 3 of 27? And this doesn't count the internal charters that, while not technically designated as "magnets," also attract students. You have East Early College, Challenge Early College, North Houston Early College, and International Studies; all of them opened in the 2000s. Also keep in mind that Carnegie separated from Jones in 2002. There's also H.P. Carter Career Center (why doesn't it have a website?) a really tiny career program - http://dept.houstonisd.org/profiles/Carterco.pdf - I'm not sure if it is a totally separate school or if it is simply a separate program, but it has a campus with a distinct location.

1. In that case, why worry about doing any of that in the first place? Assuming that this is the case, all that is going to happen is that these kids are going to go to Worthing or Sterling instead of Jones. 2. "you will not have any more "only magnet" schools built because that defeats the REAL purpose of the magnet school programs " - What about North Houston Early College (even though it's not technically "a magnet" - but an internal charter) which was founded around 2007? What about Carnegie, which separated in 2002? Now, I am aware that MCTC was merged into Wheatley. But I heard that this in particular was due to "politics." 3. "HISD already has 27 magnet programs if they can't get in kids from other districts (or private schools) now how many more magnet programs do they really need " - First HISD only recently dropped the tuition fees for out of district students who do not have parents working in HISD. Therefore the incentive is very recent. Second I think that HISD should not only establish more magnet programs, that it should also: * Seek to take over North Forest Independent School District * Actively promote the magnet programs in other districts with few or no magnet offerings; no matter how educationally excellent the Pearland ISD schools become, so far there are no "small high schools" for the district and some parents may not want to send Johnny or Suzie to a big high school. 4. You said: "many many many people do not want their kids going to school with free running animals who view school as a play ground and a social wilding experiment with the support of their parent(s)" - Then you should be in favor of this proposal. If you re-read it then there are no attempts whatsoever to mix academically talented students with "free running animals," nor do I understand how you came to that conclusion. If you read the Carnegie Vanguard thread you would see that I was against that particular HISD proposal.

Well, Vines, if HISD was totally never interested in standalone magnets, then HSPVA and DeBakey would have never happened, and Carnegie Vanguard would have never split from Jones High School.

Huh? If anything what HISD is proposing would be close to an attempt to "social engineer" neighborhood kids (as you have said) - And the magnet parents are AGAINST this proposal.

1. You said: "according to this HISD website HISD currently has 27 magnet schools INCLUDING STERLING and WORTHING.....so again how many more do they need" - Technically Sterling + Worthing are combinations of magnet and regular schools. There are separate all-magnet schools. 2. You said: "according to these two very recent stories HISD is struggling to bus kids all over town to try and social engineer failing schools already" - That was the same article, twice. Anyway, HISD should first focus on cutting administrative costs and closing small neighborhood schools. Also HISD could simply put a rule in place saying that if one is too far from the magnet, then he will instead get to take METRO for free or a reduced price. 3. But this is exactly what is happening with the magnet system. 4. You said: "and your last statement proves my point.....most if not all the successful districts in and around Houston have no magnet programs.....yet they are successful.....because the parents of those children have fled the poverty pimp and welfare schools to areas that have wisely found a way to exclude the people that care nothing about their kids or their kids education...." - It's not that the districts found a way to exclude these "people that care nothing about their kids or their kids education" - if that was the case, suburban schools would never change. Have you seen what happened to the Spring Independent School District? Look, the proposal to change Jones is not an attempt to "cater" to neighborhood parents at all. It is not an attempt to "social engineer" kids into being better. It's just a way to attract kids who are already top performing from inside and outside the district.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ro/6109559.html HISD proposes that Carnegie Vanguard is rebuilt next to Worthing, with the cafeteria and gym shared by the two schools. Worthing would also be rebuilt. Worthing parents are okay with the idea, but many Carnegie Vanguard parents do not like the idea at all and are vehemently against it. Why can't HISD simply rebuild Carnegie where it is and then rebuild Worthing off of 288?

BTW HISD has William A. Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity, which is an all boys school.

I'd like to try it too sometime - See if you can expand to the central Houston area - perhaps Montrose or West U would be a good location. With all of the new condo towers there will be demand for fruity flavors!

1. I wasn't saying that HISD should convert every zoned school into a magnet - Just Jones. If you look on a map - Worthing and Sterling are both in-between Jones. The "kids who don't care" could be mostly divided between those two schools, while Jones simply becomes a big magnet complex. 2. You said "then the answer is to shut those schools down that have become under utilized instead of trying to force them to be something they are not and or trying to lure smart kids back to disguise the fact that the school is mostly full of failures " - Erm, Jones High School wouldn't even be what it used to be. There would be no more zoned kids. By converting it into an all-magnet Jones's character would completely change. It would not be tied down to a single attendance area; it would instead be able to attract anyone from around HISD and even some outside of HISD. 3. You said: "and currently there are more females going to college than males so the time of catering to females needs to come to an end....if they want to be equal then they can compete equally" - this is why universities are now taking boys with relatively fewer qualifications and more girls are finding rejection letters. Anyway, I think that zoned gender-segregated schools are wrong, but gender-segregated magnets are alright as long as they are within U.S. federal gender rules. - A boys magnet could be established in another former elementary school, middle school, or high school as a brother school to this one. 4. You said: "lastly I don't think dallas, chicago, or philladelphia are the places that anyone would want to model their public education after unless corruption and failure is your goal" - I wasn't saying "model the entire HISD after these places" - I was saying "model a girls' school after these girls' schools" - In large school districts, schools, not school districts, educate children. 5. You said: "the real answer is of course 100% education vouchers and 100% educational choice so people can live where they want and choose to send their kids to the type of school they desire instead of constantly having to move for the sake of their kids future and their education" Many prestigious private schools may not like that. They may raise tuitions to cancel the effect of the vouchers, or choose to limit the voucher effects. Remember that as of writing the TEA does NOT govern private schools in Texas. Plus the voucher issues are very politically divisive. It is easier, politically and mentally, to simply establish more magnet schools. By the way, Vines, Brazoria County has no small high schools, public or private. Pasadena ISD has no magnet high schools. This means HISD can attract people from northern Brazoria (Pearland, Alvin), the Pasadena ISD parts of Houston, and the City of South Houston to attend HISD magnet schools in southern Houston.

I have an idea: Jones High School should be converted into a magnet school complex. Its population would be redistributed between Worthing and Sterling High Schools. So, what does this mean? First let's look at the enrollment trends of the schools: * Jones: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...503/school.aspx * Worthing: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...619/school.aspx * Sterling: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/schools/...592/school.aspx And the attendance boundaries: * Jones: http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/JonesHS.pdf * Worthing: http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolbounda.../WorthingHS.pdf * Sterling: http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolbounda.../SterlingHS.pdf The reason why Jones is between Worthing and Sterling like that is because Jones and Sterling were White schools and Worthing was a Black school (i.e. segregation). So, what could we do with Jones? As a regular school it is in very close proximity to two others and seems kind of redundant. Ah, but the Jones campus and name could live on. HISD has Barbara Jordan, a vocational high school, on the north side. We could turn Jones into a vocational magnet, like Jordan, for students on the south side. That way, people do not have to travel all the way north. Also, because HISD now allows out district kids to go to HISD schools for free, we could see students from Alvin, Pearland, and/or Pasadena ISDs go to this school if HISD successfully markets the school. Jones could also have an all-girls magnet school; in Austin and Dallas there have been all-girls schools established. Houston could do the same. Or Houston could establish a military academy (Philadelphia and Chicago have military academy public schools). Depending on the size of the programs, Jones could have one or more of them.

Public housing is financed with taxes, just like with any municipal project. IMO the real way to determine how public housing is used is to craft proper rules and to enforce them. What could work well as a replacement for Galveston public housing is homeownership. Have you heard of Corinthian Pointe? It is a subdivision developed that was purposefully sold at below market value: http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2006_4107813 - We could have several of these open in La Marque, Texas City, and Hitchcock.

La Marque and Texas City have plenty of room inland. All we need to do is build more subdivisions. Galveston is totally full and can only grow upwards. Plus Galveston has the historic buildings that cannot or should not be torn down, so places to redevelop are limited. BTW, I somehow think that most of the people who voted for Obama in the past election would be against certain expansions of welfare that could be easily defrauded.

Before the 1990s Gulf War, or before the 2000s Iraq War? I'll have to see about the Kenmore stuff. Speaking of Kuwait, Marjane Satrapi noticed that many Kuwaitis fled to Iran during the Gulf War. The Kuwaitis had nicer cars than the economically devastated Iranians. One day, a man drove up to Satrapi, who stood on the curb while drinking a soda. The man asked her how much she would pay if she would prostitute to him. She recalls throwing the soda into his face as a response. An uncle later told her that, in Kuwait as in many Arab countries, women had so few rights that one simply drinking a soda while on the street would be seen as a prostitute. In the comic Satrapi is portrayed as yelling "____ you! Son of a delicate flower!" while throwing the soda at the Kuwaiti's face Ahmedinejad has also been seen with anti-Israel Jews (i.e. Hasidic groups) supporting him; there's one picture of that in The Ayatollah Begs to Differ book.

I would do the following: * Relocate most Section 8 people (especially families) to La Marque, Hitchcock, and Texas City - maybe at most one family and senior complex can be kept. Much of Galveston's Section 8 should be ONLY for seniors. * Extend Island transit to La Marque, Hitchcock and Texas City - find a way to get the cities to accept Island Transit * Promote Ball High School as a magnet school for out of district students and have GISD provide transportation for out of district students - so the best and brightest of La Marque, Hitchcock, and Texas City can go to Galveston for high school, if they want to. GISD should be able to do this with an increasing tax base and a decreasing student body. Also change the dress code so it matches the typical American school dress code style and allows T-shirts with printed logos. * Establish a bridge between Galveston and the Bolivar Peninsula - But the ferry can be kept for historic reasons. * Help establish a commuter rail service between Houston and Galveston * Galveston and/or Jamaica Beach could establish a small library branch for West-Enders if the development of western Galveston warrants additional libraries. While I foresee schools closing, Galveston could get more libraries.

1. I think it would be interesting to live on a cruise ship long term. 2. I don't think that Galveston will rebuild its public housing. In fact, we should have a minimum of public housing on the island and instead establish housing in La Marque and Texas City. Island Transit should be extended to La Marque and Texas City.

Another thing about the apartments is that, while they are near River Oaks (and are in Houston ISD), they are zoned to Poe Elementary School, not River Oaks Elementary. The zoned secondary schools are Lanier MS and Lamar HS.

The gay marriage ban barely passed (52% in favor) - If only a few more Prop 8 supporters leave, then there would no longer be a slim majority. 1. There has to be a pro-Prop 8 county that is relatively poor (I believe California's wealth is mostly along the coast) and an easy target. We don't have to remove that many people before the pro-Prop 8 people lose their majority. 2. I would say they are liberal in different ways; I.E. they are in favor of more social programs but they are socially conservative.

This was explained in detail earlier in the thread (Page 4). Anyway, you know gentrification pushes up property tax rates? My idea is that wealthy California celebrities and other individuals in favor of homosexual marriage buy property in Pro-Prop 8 inland counties in an effort to increase taxes. This would induce the residents to move out of California and into Arizona, Utah, Nevada, etc. It's not that so much as there are opposing factions in California. The inland conservatives are opposed to the coastal liberals. Also poor Hispanic and African American populations along the coast are opposed to homosexual marriage. BTW many conservatives have already moved out of California.

I am going to continue to promote my idea of disrupting and punishing Pro-Prop 8 counties. If they ever protest, I will say "Do unto others as they do unto you - You wanted to interfere in the lives of gays, so we will interfere in your lives and make you leave California or drive you into bankruptcy"

Vines, I had a teacher who used to teach in Vegas. She said that many of the low-skilled positions at LV casinos were actually very highly paid, while some highly educated people in Vegas tend to make little money relative to the LV casino workers.

See, if I was posing as a homeless person, I would not announce it in advance. I would do it incognito and then reveal myself after the fact. Also, if I would go as far as to effectively live and pose as a homeless man/panhandler, I would be willing to risk my life.

That is likely the influence from Wahhabist Saudi Arabia - The Wahhabi element of Saudi Arabia is extremely conservative and is known to produce very inflammatory materials. Likewise Iran is a follower of Twelver Shiism. I haven't heard of Iranian textbooks calling Jews monkeys... Anyway, there was an American who wrote a book about his travels in Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. Scott Fisher, an American resident of South Korea and author of Axis of Evil World Tour, posted excerpts of his travels in Iran here: http://axisofeviltour.com/iran-main.htm

Lunatic, about the Israel wiping off map thing... * The New York Times states that what Ahmedinejad said is disputed: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/weekinre.../11bronner.html Then there's the Holocaust stuff. I have a book on Iran called The Ayatollah Begs to Differ by Hooman Majd (from the Texas Book Festival) - Somewhere (I forget what page) he talks about how a few very conservative members of the Iranian government had a fixation on Holocaust and denial; either Majd or someone else thinks of that as really strange since Iranians thought that the Holocaust had nothing to do with them. Also I think somewhere the book says that Iran took in Jews who were fleeing from the holocaust and the Iranian government had documents to prove it! Majd talks about Ahmedinejad (Majd worked as Ahmedinejad's translator) and the Holocaust stuff here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6585810.html "I don't think that he doesn't believe it happened. I think it's this obsession that he has with being seen as a Muslim leader standing up to Israel and Zionism. He's not a historian and his view is sophomoric—the first time he expressed it, he said it in a very Persian way. He said, “If it happened, why do Muslims have to pay the price?” In Farsi when you say “if,” it doesn't necessarily mean that you're questioning what happened; it's a rhetorical question. I said to one of his top aides that Ahmadinejad's biggest problem was that he said “if.” If he'd said, “It happened, but why do the Muslims have to pay the price?” it would have been much more difficult to criticize. I'm not defending him; his obsession with the Holocaust is crazy, anyway. Ahmadinejad hasn't mentioned the Holocaust for at least a year now, and I'm convinced—not that anybody would admit it—that the Supreme Leader told him, “Back off. If you want to talk about Israel and Zionism, go ahead, but leave the Holocaust out of it; you're embarrassing us.”" Majd also said, about Ahmedinejad: " And I don't believe that he really believes a lot of the things he says." Then remember that Iran is still suffering the aftereffects from the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s; however there was a big baby boom since the revolution, so there are lots of people despite the fact that Iran suffered a lot of casualties in the war.

I think Galveston will be revived. Houstonians need a place to play, and Galveston will be it. This will also further push the poor out of Galveston and into La Marque, Hitchcock, and Texas City. Galveston ISD should focus on turning Ball High School into a magnet to get more out of district people. It should also aggressively promote Austin Middle School (now a 5-8 magnet). BTW do you guys feel that the county seat should remain in Galveston? Or should it move inland?