VicMan

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/cyf...ws/5029276.html

This article compares and contrasts the bonds of Houston ISD and Cypress-Fairbanks ISD.

"HISD, for instance, is rebuilding many of its aging campuses. In an effort to turn around a reputation for inefficient bureaucracy, the district spent $42 million from its most recent bond issue on project management fees.

Cypress-Fairbanks is working to stay on top of growth, rapidly churning out large, almost cookie-cutter campuses. Even though its total debt is less than HISD's, Cy-Fair's modest tax base requires homeowners to pay twice the rate for bonds as their urban neighbors."

"Even Cy-Fair students might not be able to pick out their own campuses from aerial photos. To mass-produce schools as efficiently as possible, the district uses just a handful of blueprints. It also uses many of the same materials district-wide, down to the trademark "Cy-Fair Blue" carpeting."

"HISD used a prototype to build four pre-kindergarten centers, but the rest of the new schools were custom-built."

"Because HISD opts to replace many of its older schools, it must deal with the constraints of neighborhoods and pre-existing sites. With about a dozen schools built before 1920, the district also pays more to preserve history."

"To accommodate its booming enrollment, Cy-Fair designs larger campuses. A typical HISD elementary school is 86,000 square feet and holds 750 kids, a size Houston leaders say better suits children. Cy-Fair's elementaries are up to 99,350 square feet and can hold up to 1,040 students."

So what are you suggesting? Should private schools have to meet state standards even though they don't get state funding?

Do private schools get state funding?

1. Private schools get no state funding. The Texas Education Agency has no control over any operations of any private school in Texas.

2. I am not sure what to think of this loophole...

Vic this reminds me of the hisd needs 1 billion thread where you've given no evidence to the "dire" conditions of the gregory lincoln school.

Except that I knew that the "dire" conditions are just a suspicion. I haven't seen the inside of the campus, so I do not know for sure.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/education/s...g.d727ec29.html

Here's a trick to get a high school diploma for a kid who cannot pass TAKS: Some parents pay a private school money so the kid can become a "student" and then immediately graduate with all of the required credits.

For instance, many kids pay $250 to "enroll" in Parkway Christian School and immediately receive a diploma. The kids are immediately able to graduate because they passed all of the high school classes required to graduate at Parkway Christian School.

See, this loophole exists because the State of Texas does not require graduating *private high school seniors to take the TAKS test. Also, this trick reduces the dropout rate at public schools, since the kids, instead of dropping out or repeating a year, simply transfer to another school and then graduate.

EDIT: Forgot the word "private"

http://www.khou.com/news/local/education/s...ton.d41e81.html

http://www.khou.com/news/local/education/s...s.dc168c4f.html

Here's a strange situation.

Mark Bedell was hired to be the principal of Houston ISD's Booker T. Washington High School in the Acres Homes area. The other candidate for principal, Victor Keys, will remain as an assistant principal. Bedell replaces Franklyn Wesley, who was principal of Washington for more than 40 years.

Alumni and community members are protesting the decision to hire Bedell, formerly an assistant principal at Worthing High School. Community members wanted Keys, a Washington alumnus.

Houston ISD, stamping its foot down, stated that the decision to hire Bedell is final.

And here is the thread at Kingwood.com: http://www.kingwood.com/message_board/view...parent_id=94071

The more the merrier. Especially people with first-hand experience.

I started this on KU: http://www.kingwoodunderground.com/topic.j...opicId=11071029

Check it out if you want!

Toggle: What I have is hearsay. I have no documents, no news articles, etc. stating that intense, major corruption is the agent that seriously harms the student performance of HISD's schools.

I can say that corruption harms North Forest ISD's student performance. I can say so with confidence because the Houston Chronicle says so:

* http://search.chron.com/chronicle/openDocu...edPath=Archives

See what Patty Pinckley has to say about her technology applications class

And other sources state that NFISD is seriously plagued with corruption:

The Dallas Morning News says so:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...n2.42623f4.html

* And this article compares NFISD to the good ol' Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District. Dallas-area residents cringe at WHISD and its failures.

Oh, wait KHOU says so too: http://www.khou.com/news/local/education/s...d.be19b635.html

And don't forget ABC13: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=...&id=5521318

If you want to prove to us that your thesis (as I described above) is true, you will have to go to the press.

Memorial is so expensive because the Villages are their own incorporated entities. They go to Spring Branch Independent School District which has a great reputation. Along with the reputation are high taxes to support the good schools. It is expensive to live there which weeds out the masses. Builds on itself....

Some bits of Hunters Creek Village and Piney Point Village south of the bayou are in Houston ISD.

The bit of Hunters Creek in HISD is zoned to:

* Briargrove ES

* Grady MS

* Lee HS (Lamar HS and Westside HS are options)

And the bit of Piney Point in HISD is zoned to:

* Emerson ES

* Revere MS

* Lee HS (Lamar HS and Westside HS are options)

I would rezone the portions of those two cities to the Memorial HS feeder pattern, but then again the portions are in separate school districts...

Should I invite people from Kingwood and Kingwood Underground to the topic to discuss this?

HAIF needs more people from Kingwood, so maybe this will help.

I started topics on an idea to remove Kingwood from Humble I. S. D. and put it in Houston I. S. D. (along with the rest of the city of Houston) - The idea was not popular at all on either of the Kingwood sites. I am aware that school districts and municipal incorporations are separate in Texas (with the exception of Stafford M. S. D.), but I would redraw school district boundaries by consolidating four school districts into Houston I. S. D. and also taking portions of other districts to include all of the city, including Kingwood, in the Houston school district.

By the way, I made a map of what HISD would look like (in terms of zoned high schools) if it included all of the Houston city limits (plus the Memorial Villages): http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/Vi...tonISDHSMap.png - I took a city of Houston map, altered it, and placed a red dot per zoned high school.

By the way, the "Richards" is where I would put a high school to accomodate people formerly zoned to Pasadena Memorial HS and South Houston HS (those two Pasadena ISD schools serve bits of Houston).

Would you do us a favor and scan the documents? Post them on a Photobucket account?

"HISD doesn't provide physically safe or academically sound educational services."

Education services depend on a school by school basis, Toggle. Tell this to a kid who goes to Sam Houston High School, and (if he knew what better schools looked like, smelled like, and tasted like) he would likely agree. Tell this to a kid who goes to HSPVA, and he will be rolling on the floor with laughter.

Anyway, part of the reason why HISD has few middle class kids overall is because the middle class left most of HISD. Most of HISD consists of blue collar neighborhoods filled with people who cannot pay 10K to go to the elite private schools (unless they secure scholarships). Of course, cheaper private schools exist in those areas, and people go there. Remember that HISD schools declined because the neighborhoods declined; remember what happened to Sharpstown in the 1990s? Yes, areas gentrify, but usually they are filled with people who do not have children. Those who do happen to enroll in the Bellaire or Lamar feeder patterns, magnet schools, or private schools.

And, look at this thread, which explains the decline of Lee High School: http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...ic=9524&hl=

Toggle, I will tell you that oftentimes people may choose HISD if they get into the "good" schools, and choose private school or charter schools if they do not. For instance, one of my classmates at Carnegie Vanguard previously attended Hamilton Middle in the Heights and Carrillo Elementary in the East End. However, her younger sister, who attended Carrillo, did not get into any of the favored middle schools. Because the family viewed Jackson Middle School, the zoned school, as a poor school, the younger sister went to Catholic school.

Yep. No implication, that's the reason.

The district documents the reasons student are withdrawn. The main reason parents withdraw their kids is: HISD doesn't provide physically safe or academically sound educational services.

I contend that with proper management and policies of excellence, parents wouldn't feel the need to spend 10K a semester for private school tuition.

The Houston Chronicle also posted an editorial about this.

Lisa Gray titled her editorial "New pledge divides us" - And it can be read here: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...ay/5027759.html

The United States Supreme Court banned race-based public school admissions. See Parents vs. Seattle: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getc...mp;invol=05-908

This means that Garland ISD will have to change its school admissions policy, seen here: http://www.garlandisd.net/departments/stud...fschool_faq.asp

Will GISD introduce attendance boundaries? Will GISD instead use socioeconomic quotas (Quotas by socioeconomic status)?

I am in town. I am staying literally one block away. I had visions all day of placing some flowers at the site and making some posters to put up on the fencing. A little visibility doesn't hurt anyone other than Weingarten (which would be the point and could be fun).

Kinkaid, go ahead and play some games with Weingarten. If you find enough people, you could interfere with the demolition by doing a sit-in.

How HISD keeps asking for money having the type of educational problems that they currently have is mind boggling!!!

Enhouston, many educational problems cannot be solved by any transfusion of money.

The money is strictly for facilities. Remember that, even if the kids demonstrate no interest in school whatsoever, in the end, they are required to attend school. Even if the performance is poor (I will tell you why below), the buildings still have to be maintained.

NOW, with why the kids do not do well, frankly in many communities the support for education does not exist. Parents are unable to instill pro-education values in their children (they are often too busy working). Dysfunctional "homeboy" cultures (i.e. teenage street gangs) seduce children away from school. You can read about this on Richard Geib's website at http://www.rjgeib.com/biography/inner-city...s/innerblu.html

i'm not sure how the pics support your argument. from the pics, all i see are exterior shots that don't show any "dire" conditions that you alluded to. IMO, a good power wash and the building will look new again.

Yeah - I wish I could get inside the school so I could take photographs of the school (maybe the old building is open on Monday - I'm not sure if it is)

Also, if I encounter a staff member, I should ask if the demolition is due to any new building codes.

Note: I posted a link to some photographs I took of the campus.

Most families would renovate their houses if the conditions were that dire. Then again, remember that there are teardowns and resulting McMansions. My family happens to be the type to renovate.

I understand your reluctance to support a bond that would build a new school in place of an existing campus, especially if there are no new building codes (i.e. ADA) that would hamper the concept of renovating the old campus.

The renovation of Pershing seems to illustrate HISD's mental process when the district decides to rebuild instead of renovate.

dingy lights? dirty floors? means they should build a new building? when you have dirty floors and burned out light bulbs at your house what does your family do? build a new house?

so what in your opinion constitutes disgust?

In my opinion, a disgusting school building would contain: General poor maintenance, rust, failed plumbing, graffiti, dingy lights, dirty floors, water leaks, mold, and frequently broken air conditioning.

Anyway, here are three pictures I took of the old school:

* http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/Vi...nt=P1010012.jpg

* http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/Vi...=P1010019-1.jpg

* http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/Vi...nt=P1010018.jpg = The best marquee ever!

I wanted to get inside to see if the physical conditions are disgusting. I suspect that the physical inside looks disgusting, but I have no evidence of this. If there is a time when the campus is open, I would like to go inside and take photographs.

Toggle implied that school district's mismanagement is the reason why private school enrollment increased. What I meant is that there are other reasons why parents choose private school, such as:

* They feel that public school, as a concept, is inherently flawed

* The specific private school is the best fit for a given child

* The parents want a religious education for the child

* The parents prefer the social and/or academic climate of the private school over the eligible public schools' climates

that's my point....before you said "The old campus is three stories tall and has no charm whatsoever. I could not get inside, but the outside looks sickening" and IMO this isn't a reason to build a new school if it is working fine as is.

most go to private schools because parents feel the education at public schools isn't the best for their child/children.

yep - according to GHPA, that's how it went for the Jefferson Davis Hospital on Allen Parkway - it was demolished, then voted a landmark afterward.

So, why hasn't this loophole been corrected if

Why can't the GHPA hire some people to "sit-in" to interfere with the demolition until the city votes? If it fails to attain the landmark status, the "sit-in" guys will allow for the demolition.

Vic-

You graduated from high school this year, right? What college/university did you decide to attend? Are you going to major in education?

St. Edward's University in Austin - And, I will major in either history or global studies.

I found a copy of Texas Monthly - specifically the July 2007 Volume (Volume 35, Issue 7) and it has a story that rates Texas house members.

"The Best and Worst Legislators 2007"

And Debbie Riddle was on the worst list.

Senior executive editor Paul Burka, in an e-mail to writer-at-large Patricia Kilday Hart, describes her (this was printed on pages 103-104):

"There is never a shortage of would-be Worsts in the House. Most are malevolent, but some, like Debbie Riddle, are so innocent that I ought to turn myself in to the Humane Society for putting them on the list. (She once happened by the two Democrats who were looking at the Bibles that remain in members' desks from session to session, with notations of the previous occupants' favorite verses. "Oh," said the Riddler, as she is known by those who have been stumped by her vacuousness. "I didn't know Democrats read the Bible.") Riddle represents the largest gap between sincerity and talent in the Legislature. She wouldn't harm a fly, but she is lethal to bills that require a depth of understanding. I can't imagine who thought it would be a good idea for her to manage the floor debate on Jessica's Law. Obviously the bill had widespread support, but it also raised some difficult issues, such as the constitutionality of imposing the death penalty for repeat sex offenders who don't take a life. Riddle made such a mess of answering queries that two fellow Republicans, both respected lawyers, called a halt to the proceedings ("It doesn't do us any good to pass a bill that gets struck down by the courts, one told the House) and suggested that the members use the weekend to confer with prosecutors and victims' rights groups back home. When the House reconvened, Riddle was no longer the bill's floor manager. While other members passed her bill, she hovered in the background, still clueless."

So, Riddle seems to be a fairly weak politician.

We have a concept in the United States justice system that states "innocent until proven guilty." Guilt must be proven. Innocence is presumed unless guilt can be proven.

It's not bad. You're assuming that they're innocent.