VicMan

So what else is new?

Semipro has a good point, folks - North Forest has been having leadership issues since the late 1980s.

Should I start a group called "End North Forest" or something to that effect? I do NOT advocate closing ALL of the NFISD campuses (since they seem to be in okay shape, aside from Forest Brook) - I merely advocate transfer of political control of areas within Houston to Houston ISD and areas outside of Houston to HISD, Aldine ISD, and/or Humble ISD.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...ar.377659b.html

Yes, a lady named Faye Gafford is leading an effort to restore WHISD.

WHISD is a school district known for cheating and corruption before it ran out of money and could no longer operate. DISD took over the territory held by the district, closed all of the poorly-maintained WHISD schools, and sent kids in the WHISD boundary to DISD campuses.

Now, I do believe that DISD should open schools in the WHISD area. Yes, DISD has separate schools for Seagoville, so DISD can add schools to the Wilmer-Hutchins area.

By the way, the speech contents are seen here:

http://www.aframnews.com/WEB-pdfs/3-7-07-Pg1-8.pdf

"“There have been predominantly White schools in this area whose students have done far worse on test scores that our children have,” she said. “They are allowed to continue with their neighborhood school. “Why is that?” Anyone can sign the petition as long as you are a Texas resident. You do not have to be a registered voter, Gafford noted,and she is hoping people from Houston, Waco, San Antonio, Austin, Beaumont, Port Arthur, El Paso, Abilene and other communities join the effort to preserve these and other schools in the future who may face hostile takeover, attack and closure like Wilmer-Hutchins did."

I think that she is lying (she never names the schools that supposedly performed worse than WHISD) and that this will never happen (Hello - the USDOJ approved what the state did!).

Josh Benton, who often covered WHISD, said here: http://metro.beloblog.com/archives/2007/02/26/

"Having covered my share of WHISD school board meetings, I can report that Faye was always an impassioned defender of the district — not of the goings on there, but of its right to exist. She rightfully points out that the Hutch's kids are now being bused to Dallas schools, on trips of 20 miles or more in extreme cases.

The petition has no legal standing, as I understand it — it's not a situation where 18,000 signatures means the district magically pops back to life. But if you're interested in helping out, you can reach Faye at 972-225-3713."

By the way, the DallasBlackBlog states that it has Gafford's telephone number (So you can call her and talk to her): http://dallasblackblog.wordpress.com/page/2/

Normally, I do not make entire threads to bash a school and show its issues. Yet, we found major vandalism and major cheating at Forest Brook High School.

Okay, the school did not ask for some idiot kids to spray a water hose through the school, though I have no clue how they entered the school: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=...&id=5496886

Yet, the real ugliness is shown in this Dallas Morning News report explaining that scores plummeted once observers were placed in the TAKS testing rooms: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...n2.42623f4.html

"On the 11th-grade test

If Scholes can support a 767, then Southwest Airlines (which has 737s) could start commuter flights from Galveston to Dallas Love, Austin, and/or San Antonio.

This could be in addition to an American Eagle service to DFW.

I'd rather see something on the mainland where there's room for expansion. Scholes could take commuter flights and the jet set like London City airport.

I picture a London City-esque operation, such as American Eagle flights to Dallas/Fort Worth. If 737s can be supported, Southwest Airlines to Dallas Love could work.

That also reminds me - If Galveston becomes a larger tourist destination than it is now, should Scholes gain commercial aircraft flights? Since Scholes has military flights, I wonder what types of commercial aircraft Scholes can support.

River Oaks has mainstream students who live in River Oaks and who are siblings of Vanguard programs. The mainstream students attend separate classrooms, though they have the same enrichment teachers. After I graduated from a private school that ended in third grade, I went into a mainstream class for one year and then hopped to Vanguard. I liked River Oaks, and I felt prepared when I went on to T. H. Rogers.

By all means tell the couple of friends! Why not list the reasons why Rummel is better and have the friends tell the Poe teachers? If I was a Poe teacher, I would be glad to find suggestions for teaching from other schools in order to improve myself

By the way, Mexican American Moose, a forum member, went to Lanier at the same time my sister did. He felt that the richest kids seemed a bit snobbish to him.

I can tell you at least from what I have heard, River Oaks is still very good. At least the Vanguard program. I'm not sure if it also has mainstream students because everyone I knew was in Vanguard.

I don't have much of a vested interest in Poe's future anymore, but I could suggest it to a couple of friends who are about to have a baby and are struggling on whether to move out of the area or not. Maybe they will get involved with introducing Poe to what Rummel does well, or maybe it will push them to decide to just move out.

In a strange way, IAH feels somewhat new with Terminal E (I flew out of and into that terminal when I flew to Japan last May/June).

And after hearing about Poe's great reputation and then seeing for itself that it doesn't measure up, I honestly think that a lot of people must have lower expectations for education, at least than I do. I think they say to themselves "wow, this is a great school compared to the rest of HISD", but after seeing the difference between Poe and his new school, I think a lot of these people wouldn't be so enthusiastic about Poe if they just put their kids in an elementary school like Rummel Creek for a year; they'd really see the difference. So I didn't feel comfortable knowing that Lanier's reputation is kept going by these same pople who have low expectations for Poe.

Poe is not the only feeder school, though - Lanier is also fed by:

* River Oaks (I graduated from that school, as did my sister)

* Wilson (partial)

* St. George Place (partial) (Opening in 2007)

* Roberts (partial)

In other words, the Poe crowd is not the only group at Lanier.

Also, I know many people from West University who went to Lanier, despite the fact that West U is zoned for Pershing.

Maybe you should have the people who you know at Poe visit Rummel Creek - Perhaps send video clips, photographs, etc. Poe has every reason to be as good as Rummel Creek, and perhaps Verdon should take a notice of this.

This is in Katy ISD.

It is zoned to:

* Wolfe ES

* Memorial Parkway MS

* James E. Taylor HS

You mean "Crazy Crew"? Well, I know the apartments that house those guys are being torn down in Montrose. Benton, by the way, went to that school for a few months before the stabbing. She probably fell into the "wrong crowd" quickly (she lived in Montrose and socialized with the Crazy Crew kids). Benton previous went to Lanier MS, Hogg MS, some school in La Porte, and some high school in Cy-Fair and exhibited many behavior problems once she was in high school. Even if she stayed in the suburbs, she probably would still have been trouble.

Did your stepson go to Lanier? Or was he only at Poe before you moved?

Also, did you hear statements like "Then we started to hear more and more about Lanier, how it was the same way, in reality no longer living up to its reputation." from people in Vanguard/IB or people in the regular program? My sister graduated from Lanier in 2001, and my cousin graduated in 2004 (both in Vanguard). Did the school change since then?

And that girl who stabbed that boy to death in Ervan Chew Park? She went to Lamar. It's got some gang problems.

Maybe Randall's can hire guards to shoo away panhandlers. Perhaps they can be authorized to use physical force (i.e. punches and kicks) if the panhandlers persist or if they are repeat offenders.

Actually, GPISD also has Galena Park HS.

North Shore HS is split into a 9-10 school and a 11-12 school.

Half of Jacinto City is in GPISD. The portion north of Market Street is in Houston ISD and is zoned to Whittier Elementary School (Jacinto City), Holland Middle School (Houston), and Furr High School (Houston).

For the GPISD portion:

* Almost all of it is zoned to Jacinto City Elementary School - one portion is zoned to Pyburn Elementary School (Houston) and one is zoned to MacArthur Elementary School (Galena Park)

* Most of it is zoned to Galena Park Middle School - some of it is zoned to Woodland Acres Middle School

* All of it is zoned to Galena Park High School

North Shore High School is in Galena Park ISD.

There is no North Shore ISD.

Tjones,

Galena Park (the city) is off Clinton Dr at Main (Mercury) and also Holland. South of Jacinto City but North of the Ship Channel. The district is much larger and includes Jacinto City, and the North Shore area (I-10 at Uvalde, Woodforest, et al)

Even HISD has rigged test scores at SHS to get funding and promotions of administrators. Years ago I bought a few of the SHS yearbooks from the 70s at an estate sale. If anyone wants to see a photo of a football team, dance, or club at the school from that era let me know and I can post.

Actually, the dropout rates were rigged. The Chronicle explains this here: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/topstory2/2073994.html

And Kimball got a strange punishment once his cover was blown: "Kimball, who first alerted Wichmann to the questionable dropout reports, has been reassigned to Ashford Elementary School, where his duties include cutting open ketchup packets for 5-year-olds who cannot open them. Kimball said if he is reprimanded he will file suit because he already signed an agreement with HISD saying that his reassignment would be his only punishment."

Seems like a bit of the former Pershing Middle School campus will not be torn down.

Turns out the chimney swifts found a new home in the old chimney attached to the campus, adjacent to the shiny new middle school. Thanks to the Migratory Bird Act, demolition will not happen for the chimney.

Pershing, a zoned middle school (sharing with Pin Oak MS in Bellaire) for the City of West University Place, the City of Southside Place, the City of Bellaire, and the Houston neighborhoods of Braeswood Place, Sunset Terrace, Old Braeswood, Morningside Place, Southgate, Knollwood Village, and Westwood, replaced the former 1940s campus with a new building in 2007.

Chimney swifts are GREAT since they eat mosquitoes.

See the West U Examiner article: http://www.examinernews.com/articles/2007/...nity/comm01.txt

I think the school should make a "Birdwatching" unit of a science class and perhaps make trips to the chimney

Well when the The Woodlands becomes a city, I'd imagine it will begin to annex. Boy theres a thought!

It's one thing for Houston to allow for The Woodlands to incorporate. It's another to let The Woodlands have ETJ. There is NO WAY the City of Houston would let The Woodlands have ETJ (and the ability to annex).

Look at the City of Katy. The City of Houston has Katy on a leash of sorts. Katy may only annex if Houston wants Katy to annex.

This house is zoned to in Houston ISD:

* Lovett ES

* Johnston MS (option: Pin Oak MS)

* Bellaire HS

I remember finding an article stating that many of the "rich" are middle-aged men, while many of the not-so-well off are younger people.

As a note, 205 East Cowan is zoned to Houston ISD:

* Memorial ES

* Hogg MS

* Lamar HS

Okay, time for me to whip out the book of Supreme Court decisions

Students are required to have due process before suspensions, one.

"Goss v. Lopez (1975)

Students are entitled to certain due process rights.

Nine students at an Ohio public school received 10-day suspensions for disruptive behavior without due process protections. The Supreme Court ruled for the students, saying that once the state provides an education for all of its citizens, it cannot deprive them of it without ensuring due process protections."

7th graders have less rights than adults, but that does not mean that they completely forsake their first amendment rights. That is supported by the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.

This: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getc...3&invol=503 - explains that opinion

Perhaps this is summarized by this statement from http://www.uscourts.gov/outreach/resources...udentcases.htm

"Students do not leave their rights at the schoolhouse door."

Yes, it is true that public schools can limit free speech when the said free speech is deemed inappropriate (I.E. "Bong Hits 4 Jesus"), but this does not mean that students forsake 1st amendment rights.

"remember that public school district, as government institutions, are required to allow for due process, free speech, etc"

WRONG

"But school administrators are required to decisions comparable to decisions of judges in court systems, etc."

WRONG

I guarantee that government institutions test the limits of due process and free speech. The courts decide what is fact. School administrators are not comparable to court judges. That is a different branch of government.

I haven't traveled to the "West U Downtown" that often, but I guess I should more often.

C. Harris, remember that public school district, as government institutions, are required to allow for due process, free speech, etc. " I am not saying that anyone is 100% right, but everyone questioning school administrators, because they "dont think something is fair", is childish, and any ADULT knows life is NOT FAIR. Understand you dont know all the facts." - But school administrators are required to decisions comparable to decisions of judges in court systems, etc.

For private schools, as they are not government institutions, they have more latitude in "fairness," controlling student speech rights, etc.

Trae, Thanks for your comment, on why you think Katy ISD is "messed up". Those where great examples...and I hope other readers can see what is going on in public schools.

Either you can back the personnel on the front-lines and their decisions or you can second guess everything that these people do. I am not saying that anyone is 100% right, but everyone questioning school administrators, because they "dont think something is fair", is childish, and any ADULT knows life is NOT FAIR. Understand you dont know all the facts.

Erik dont know what you mean when you say "You are a substitute teacher? That figures.", but no I do not substitute teach. I do respect the job they do, and its important one at that. It is very difficult, I would assume, to enter a class of over 20 people (young people), and attempt to maintain some resemblence of control, follow the lesson plans ALL the while not knowing any or few of the students names. I can understand why a seating chart is important...but they wouldnt know many faces either. But that is for a different thread.

In the Houston ISD schools, most substitute teachers are known for being more lax than the regular teachers. Folks, this is a good thing, generally; the substitute should not trounce on rules held by teachers.

I actually distrusted substitutes in terms of turning in permission slips and classwork - typically, unless the sub asks for schoolwork, I waited until the teacher came back to school in order to turn in assignments and permission slips.

Thank you so much, Chris

The link worked

Hey, here's an example of what kind of discussion to not have (One loaded with personal attacks)

http://www.kingwoodunderground.com/topic.j...opicId=10500778

I notice a lot of personal attacks toward not just the subjects of the article (illegal immigrants who died in a car crash), but also towards each other.

Not everyone in the topic is cruel, but some are.

EDIT: Yes, "Vicman," the very "Vicman" on the forum is me. I'm trying to add some common sense and I am refraining from personal attacks.