VicMan

I haven't read the Press article yet, but I was told that some really involved parents helped make that school very good, and the reward is that HISD is closing it and sending the kids to a school that is not any good. Another stellar decision by HISD.

What HISD ought to do is have the Jones administration *take over* the new school - that way the success at Jones continues.

Honestly I would have merged Jones with Gregory-Lincoln.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6147934.html

Speaking of complexes - the shot men were actually shot at an apartment complex. They just came over to Sharpstown mall and were found there.

Spring ISD is converting the former Westfield 9th Grade Center into a magnet math and science middle school: http://www.springisd.org/default.aspx?name=dec08.middle

Saavedra decided to call off the plan http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/20...ie_worthing.php

Alright, the Fall 2009 elementary boundaries have been approved: http://www.springisd.org/docs2/ccrd/Map%2008.pdf

Also when the time is right new schools should be built to accommodate territory zoned to schools on the other side of the freeway so that kids do not need to be bussed across the freeway.

Yes, he really was for real. Too bad nobody has a clip from the ad of the bikini clad woman coming out of the pool with the VCR.

More than four years later, there is one here:

This is surely a classic advertisement!

Interesting. I wonder whether the preservationists will be on top of this one.

I wonder if HISD plans to do a Lantrip style partial rebuild or if it plans to bulldoze the entire site.

http://www.houstonisd.org/HISDConnectDS/v/...00052147fa6RCRD

HISD is going to close eight campuses and replace them with four new campuses.

* Atherton and E.O. Smith K-8 will be consolidated at the Atherton site, with a new campus there

* Sherman and Crawford will be consolidated at the Sherman site, with a new campus there

* Dogan and Scott will be consolidated at the Scott site, with a new campus there

* Lockhart and Turner will be consolidated at the Lockhart site, with a new campus there

These will be done by Spring 2011

In addition, Hohl will close and its students will be absorbed by Highland Heights ES and other area schools

EDIT: As per significance of Art Deco Lockhart, I retitled this

Edit: In July 1983 Lockhart Elementary School was located at 3501 Southmore Blvd.

So what would happen to the students who can't get to any of the schools?

Do you believe in mandatory attendance? Or do you feel that school should be optional?

no full 100% voucher system has ever been tried so you have no clue how well it would do VS the current failures

the Milwaukee system is based on one thing and one thing only which is income and that shortchanges those that pay the most in taxes and have worked the hardest to get them and their children to where they are at and it rewards those that pay the least in taxes.....it does not surprise me that those that favor income redistribution have no issue with this

the Milwaukee system also has the HUGE flaw of schools not being able to turn down kids that have no business being there.....and that is the same problem with your desired state/public managed system....it does nothing to prevent failed parents and their stupid uncontrollable children from going to the best schools where they have no business being and forcing their way in and screwing it up for everyone else....once parents learn that only the very worst publicly run schools will accept kids that come to school hungry, without their homework or books, with their pants around their ankles, and throwing gang signs then they will either choose to care and clean up their act and their childs act or their child can be warehoused in a public school until it is their time for jail.......forcing any school to take marginal students with discipline and behavior problems and parents that refuse to be actively involved in their education is what is failing us now.....ANY charter school or magnet school that is publicly run will always be forced to eventually open up to these kids or face the very lawsuits you fear....private schools will not because the USA has freedom of association and those kids and their parents can be marginalized from contact with kids with a future as they should be and they can be free to fail in publicly run schools

and again why would I want a "lottery system" where there are winners and losers even among those who may wish to take their and their childs education seriously.....this is exactly the flaw with your argument......give to a few "lucky winners" and let the rest suffer with all the unteachable and uncontrollable

what is it exactly that scares you about allowing all to take their education resources into the realm of free choice to pick what they feel is best for their kids Vs what you favor which is a few lucky winners and a bunch that are short changed because of the lack of control of some kids and their parents

a very very selfish position if you ask me

Vines, a lot of public magnet programs (but not all) are solely on a lottery basis and not on an application basis, just like this Milwaukee voucher system.

Dogma is not winning people over, Vines. My argument is that the voucher system is not sufficiently an improvement over the magnet/charter system, not really that it is a total failure.

the Milwaukee system was set up to fail from the beginning and is nothing how anyone with a brain would set up a FULL voucher system

it is clear that following the lead of those like you IS FAILING now so it is time to change courses

there are numerous instances of success in the Milwaukee story what there is not is any signs of total failure other than to allow ALL to have choice and for the failed Milwaukee government to even have a clue how to set it up properly

and from reading the story it sounds to me like as soon as things started looking up the state suddenly stopped tracking progress probably because union mind controllers and brainwashers ask them to stop with the hopes it would die.....if it was REALLY failing you know as well as I the media would be all over it because they just as you fear the loss of government PC crap control of schools

Vines, "because being politically correct or doing what is easy to appease the ignorant is not in my nature especially when it comes at greater cost and difficulty for those that contribute and care the most" isn't how to make public policy decisions. If there is no hard evidence that a school voucher arrangement will work better than a charter school/magnet school arrangement, why should I pay more money for legal fees that are not inevitable?

Look, Vines, dogma and anecdotes are not going to make that position a good sell. Firm statistical evidence will do it, and the point of that Milwaukee article is the lack of statistical evidence.

because being politically correct or doing what is easy to appease the ignorant is not in my nature especially when it comes at greater cost and difficulty for those that contribute and care the most

why put so many caring parents through the hoops just to appease the poverty pimps and welfare mongers when my goal it to make them take accountability for their thoughts and ideas even if it does mean their kids are left behind....because their kids will already be left behind as it is.......and as it is now their thoughts and ideas and their wild children are harming others kids that may not be as vocal or as able to speak up

I want these losers and their loser parents exposed and I want them to have as little ability as possible to ruin anything for anyone, but themselves and their children

you seem to have a huge problem with this.....the only reason this is controversial is because of people such as yourself that just can't allow people to actually have control over their kids education because you have great concerns that would leave your thoughts and ideas on the waste heap of history and expose them for what they are.....state sponsored failure and acceptance of meritocracy at the expense of all

the lawsuits will be a one time thing....why keep up the charade of busing and magnet schools and charter schools for a few select minorities and demographics at the expense of so many others....lawsuits don't scare me....they are often brought by the morally and politically bankrupt who see their failed ideas slipping away....I would relish the opportunity to see them crushed once and for all especially because I am 100% sure it would benefit so many more and society in general and probably at a much lower overall cost

Regarding your charter school stuff:

1. It is illegal to exclude by race

2. Tweak the charter school's marketing and/or remove reverse economic barriers

Even though the U.S. Supreme Court said it is constitutional for a school district to have vouchers for religious schools, I would not want my tax money going towards religious schools when there is no benefit over using a religious school instead of a magnet or charter school.

I must also add that in 2007, 55% of the children zoned to Jones attended other HISD schools. - The highest such percentage was 58% at the Kashmere High School zone. The lowest was 6% at the Westside High School zone. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2007_4442145

You said: "why have the charter schools that still allow for political pandering and graft and corruption and exclusion of certain groups often the groups that have parents that care the most and the students that care the most....it scares you to lose complete control of those young minds doesn't it" - This is a matter of making a set of clear boundaries and ensuring that schools adhere to them. Why not simply improve the charter school system so that corruption is easily vanquished?

You said: "why not require a state certification for all teachers in the required subjects" - The State of Texas already has certification rules.

I oppose state charters because they often exclude middle and upper income students and or majority race students so they can slip under the poverty pimps radar and not be contested....they still often are saddled with taking some students that should not be in the program.....I am for 100% choice for all with basic state requirements for teaching and administrative credentials and minimum competency per grade with little other state involvement other than accountability for under performance

even with a blue ribbon that school is about to be merged back into a ghetto hell hole....so clearly politics is about to fail those students to appease people like you and other poverty pimps

I am for 100% choice from K-12 not just high schools so it will not matter at what age the problem children "axe" up because that will be the age when their parents either become involved or their kids get sent back to the lowest common denominator schools until they hit jail......this is the reason I want 100% choice so that those schools can expel anyone for anything but race or religion (provided they do not try and use their religion to disrupt the schools overall program IE if you are athiest or muslim and choose a Baptist or Catholic school and then complain about the religious aspects you can please leave thank you)

the vast majority of people in HISD politics don't have the students in mind they have their position in mind and or pandering to a certain group of people so they can keep their position and or keep shoveling money into those communities with no accountability......taking HISD out of it WOULD take the politics out of the vast majority of kids educations which again is what I think scares people like you the most....this is why one separate magnet school was merged back in to another school and why a second is about to be merged back in a greater expense....because what is good for those students does not matter what matters is pandering to parents at under performing schools by giving them new buildings or shiny objects and accepting blame for their kids poor performance and their poor parenting and masking it with exceptional students they have next to no contact with

why are you against vouchers.....why have the charter schools that still allow for political pandering and graft and corruption and exclusion of certain groups often the groups that have parents that care the most and the students that care the most....it scares you to lose complete control of those young minds doesn't it

why not require a state certification for all teachers in the required subjects and state certifications for administrators and testing for grade competency then get the hell out of the way and let schools and parents choose extra curricular activities, religion or not, behavior and accountability and parental involvement policies....it all scares you doesn't it....if the state is not in there somewhere then the state mind control can't take place......that scares you a great deal doesn't it

Vines, my point is that what these vouchers are doing could be accomplished with charter schools (internal and state) and with district magnets. You know that charter schools are politically divisive and promoting them will add to legal fees incurred by the state and by other parties. We can do the things these schools do with what we have. Why push a politically, legally, and financially expensive proposal when we have a cheap and easy solution nearby? We already have choice schools which get better motivated students and which improve students' lives.

1. I did not read anything that said the Milwaukee has failed or not changed much.....I read that it had mixed results....which one can easily say about any public school....especially when you see the FACT that it was only open to lower income students

2. of course you don't want taxes to go for choice that limits your ability to brainwash students with your BS....but everyone pays taxes why shouldn't they have a choice hos those are used for their education....unless you desire to subvert their choice?

3. the Milwaukee was only opened for lower income families which will usually lead to failure in anything since it is often those same families that don't care.....which is why their existing schools fail and is actually against all that libtards espouse which is to let lower income students mix with higher income students and it will rub off

4. the Milwaukee experiment was clearly set up to fail because as quoted in the story """"Like all schools in the program, it can't use selective criteria to admit students"""" so in other words these schools still have to take students that can't cut it and students of parents that don't give a damn which basically makes them like a private public school....which makes them a private failure

5. it is awful strange to me that they allowed rapist and morons to open these schools, but they allow the schools no control of who to let in.....gee do you think the people that started this voucher program wanted it to succeed or do you think they were more like you and they wanted it to fail so they could get back to sucking up tax dollars for brainwashing

that ignorant Milwaukee program is nothing like I or anyone else with an ounce of common sense would use as an example of a proper voucher program....because first there is ZERO accountability of who can open the schools.....second there is ZERO ability of those schools to toss kids that can't cut it back into the lowest common denominator public schools, and it was only set up for those that are often the lowest performers already (usually because they come from a family that does not care only now given a choice as stated in the article the parent(s) still may not care, but they are happier with their kids education)

A few showed signs of improved student achievement and evidence that competition improves public schools. Others showed negligible difference.

this to me sounds like it has improved for some of the kids and it sounds like it has harmed few if any......improvement for even a FEW kids is better than none which is what many public schools offer now.....and the very first child quoted in the story seems VERY HAPPY with her new school.....so again just because others have doubts (but can provide no evidence to support it at least none offered in this story) that does not mean I buy into their doubts especially when even SMALL improvements is better than the NOTHING currently offered

Still, some students say the program can make an enormous difference. "Everything has room for improvement, but if this works now, let's give it a chance," says Charles Green, a senior at Messmer Catholic High School, who will go to New York's Columbia University next fall on a full scholarship.

Messmer gets about 80 percent of its students through vouchers. Students put the name of the college they're shooting for on their locker, and the daily attendance rate - often higher than 95 percent - is posted by the entrance. Nearly 90 percent of its students go on to a four-year college every year, says principal Jeff Monday.

the above to me sounds pretty damn good....95% attendance and 90% going to college......for schools that can ONLY choose low income students.....again please show me where the problems are?

and again these schools can't pick and choose students they take all or none as the next quote says

Like all schools in the program, it can't use selective criteria to admit students.

Marchelle Hicks says she didn't know what to do with her son Orlando at his old school - he was getting failing grades and the school insisted he go on medication for attention-deficit disorder. She found out about Hope's rigorous, no-excuses curriculum through a brochure in her door, and enrolled him in fourth grade there this year.

"He's an 'A' student," Ms. Hicks says proudly. "Now we don't talk about testing or medication.... His whole attitude of going to school has changed."

again look at the above story.....the very first girl and the very last boy in the story have made HUGE improvements and their is NOTHING in that story that shows any student that has been harmed by voucher choice......it only shows the failures of Milwaukee to put any types of controls in place before starting the program......I will take two students improving any day even with Milwaukee's inability to set the rpogram up properly over what they currently offer.....and considering Milwaukee is a horribly run city with decades of problems it is not surprising they made huge mistakes in setting up anything.....that does not mean Texas or anyone else can't learn from them or has to repeat them

you should read the story again because all I read was a story of failed Milwaukee government setting something up poorly and students still managing to become better because of it

1. "Politics" is less likely to interfere when a school wins the NCLB Blue Ribbon Award (as Carnegie did) and gets a reputation as one of the best high schools in the City of Houston. In MCTC's case it was never as visible as Carnegie is. It may have had good programs, but it just never got the star power Carnegie got. HISD knows that Carnegie is a goose that lays golden eggs. Also the Carnegie PTO can rally board members in various neighborhoods in favor of its cause.

2. You said: "until the VAST majority of schools have the ability to tell parents their child is not wanted there and they will not be accepted there because of their behavior, lack of ability and caring about education, or the parents lack of involvement the vast majority of schools and students will suffer" - The problem with many zoned schools is precisely that they cannot expel children unless the children commit serious violations. Many of the problems in zoned high schools begin in middle school.

3. You said: "as long as HISD and politics is involved this will be IMPOSSIBLE to accomplish." - Politics is defined by Merriam-Webster as "1 a: the art or science of government b: the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy c: the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government" - As HISD is the largest school district in terms of student population in Texas (though gentrification is nibbling away at this designation), politics is inevitable. The thing is to make sure that people act with the children in mind.

4. Why don't you propose more state charters? State charters are not affiliated with local school districts, one. Two, state charters are already allowed. Three, state charters act like de facto magnets.

again you said it yourself MCTC was merged because of politics....why do you think Carnegie is going to be merged....uh because of politics!

it is time to get politics out of the vast majority of kids educations and leave that for the kids of parent(s) that don't give a damn.....buying the parents of Worthing off with a new building that will be trashed in a few years and with the idea that their students will some how look better coming out of a better performing school (because Carnegie was merged in for scoring) even though their kids are still dumb as a stump, is an answer for nothing

until the VAST majority of schools have the ability to tell parents their child is not wanted there and they will not be accepted there because of their behavior, lack of ability and caring about education, or the parents lack of involvement the vast majority of schools and students will suffer

as soon as schools are set up for parents that want to get in THEIR KIDS FACES ABOUT THEIR POOR SCHOOL PERFORMANCE Vs. parents that want to get in teachers and school administrators faces about their kids poor performance the better.....when every parent gets an equal amount for their kids education and the vast majority of kids perform better, even if they go to school in a card board box, because they are away from disruptive savages and their animal parents the sooner we can answer those animal parents with the idea that their child gets the same amount spent on their education and it has nothing to do with money and every thing to do with their poor parenting and their child's poor behavior....as long as HISD and politics is involved this will be IMPOSSIBLE to accomplish....with vouchers the politics is OUT.......and I think that is what scares people like you and others that are opposed to vouchers the most.....because once the politics are out that means the brainwashing and the liberal PC bullshit is out as well and those that buy into that crap will be exposed as poverty pimps and welfare mongols

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.

you listed 3 schools DeBakey, HSPVA, and Carnegie in your example of separate magnet schools.....that is 3 of the 27 total magnet schools listed on the HISD link I provided....is there something hard to understand about that

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.....HISD is failed, DISD is failed as is nearly every large ISD in the USA it is time for decent parents and decent students to be released from the grip of poorly performing schools and the poorly performing students and parents that drag them all down.....vouchers is the answer for this....then parent(s) that enjoy their kids going to schools filled with violence, pants around ankles, students that act like animals and come unprepared, parents that get in teachers faces, teachers unions, liberal PC brain washing, lack of accountability, and general savage behavior can have their schools and everyone else can have theirs

there is no reason HISD needs to be in the middle of it.....and I would be 100% positive that HISD has found a way for those charter schools to skew/mask overall under performance so the fact that they exist still does not change my opinion that 100% vouchers is the way to go and then the public school system can become what the vast majority of it already is which is a day care for future criminals where disruptive, unteachable, animals with similar parents can be caged until they start their real life of crime

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

and many of those charter schools probably have enrollment requirements that exclude many of the students in HISD and are specifically set up to cater to certain groups......which is exactly what is helping education fail all across the USA now....ignorant pandering bureaucrats that think they know what is best for peoples children unless, God forbid, it comes to student or parent accountability across the board....the only way they stay in business is because they continue to cater to small vocal groups and buy them off with magnet and charter schools while leaving other students that may not be top performers, but value education, behind with animals that care nothing about education

it is time to separate out those that care from those that don't and leave those that don't behind for the lowest common denominator publicly run schools that have to take any and all until they can be put behind bars.....and no one needs HISD or any other ISD in the middle of running the schools for those that care

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.

that is only 3 of 27 so that is not a great example especially when one is possibly going to be merged back with another failed school against the parents wishes....and HSPVA did use to associate with the school across the street I am not sure when that changed and DeBakey needs to be in the setting it is in because of the specific programs it offers

so holding up 11% of the programs offered is not persuasive to convince me that the real goal is not to suck in a few more state dollars and more importantly to mask the underlying failure of a number of the schools in HISD

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.

the only way cater parent(s) of most of those kids is to toss endless amounts of money and new things at their area and then accept 100% of the blame for their failures as parent(s) and students.....the rest can't be catered to because they can't be found or just don't care....which is why those schools are in such poor shape

you will not have any more "only magnet" schools built because that defeats the REAL purpose of the magnet school programs

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

It should not be the goal of HISD to attract the students from other districts it should be their goal to provide schools that are of a level of education and safety that parents won't have to pack up and move when their kids reach a certain age or school grade.....and that will never happen without vouchers and 100% school choice because it should be clear to anyone with common sense that large public school districts in large urban settings will fail at this.....because what you fail to see and what the parents of magnet students do see in the other thread you started is that 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)

as well they should be....and yes of course HISD is trying to socially engineer the situation which is exactly why your idea in the other thread to turn one school into only a magnet school will never happen......the fact that you even proposed that idea lead me to believe you had zero understanding of why magnet schools exist....hence the responce in this thread

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.

you really have very little understanding of the purpose of magnet schools

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.houstonisd.org/portal/site/Magn...00028147fa6RCRD

according to this HISD website HISD currently has 27 magnet schools INCLUDING STERLING and WORTHING.....so again how many more do they need

according to these two very recent stories HISD is struggling to bus kids all over town to try and social engineer failing schools already

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/6093082.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/6093082.html

$1,180 per magnet school student just in busing over and above the $220 per regular student spent on busing

I do not expect that every private school will take any and all voucher students.......in fact that is EXACTLY the point of vouchers.....so that schools can choose who to take based on any and all factors besides race.....so that kids that "axe a fo" all day and have parents that come up and get in teachers faces because their kids don't do their homework can be EXCLUDED from schools where students have parents that care and desire to get an education....parents that desire to have politically correct BS shoved down their kids throats VS being educated can send their kids to those schools.....parents can CHOOSE a school for their kids where a uniform is or is not required and where discipline is or is not required....or the pledge is or is not said or where God and religion is or is not discussed.....I realize the thought of not being able to indoctrinate students is scary to people such as yourself and the liberal PC poverty pimps, but that day will end soon enough one way or another....and when it does those who's ideas are failed will "shine" like they never have before and those who understand what education means will have even more successful children probably for a lower cost

the only people that this is divisive to are welfare mongers and poverty pimps and I don't give a damn what either of them think.....just tossing more money at the problem might be the ignorant liberal touchy feely response, but that has been shown to fail with regularity

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.....attracting a few of those students back to HISD because their parents see it as a free private education or more convenient to their work so they can take and pick up their kids does nothing to solve the problem of neighborhood after neighborhood and school after school full if ignorant kids with behavior issues that are brought on and encouraged by their worthless parents.....it only paints over the issue and soothes the touchy feelies of people that want to blind themselves to reality and hold no one accountable except for the tax payers wallet

and actually you are wrong the TEA does require accountability of any and all schools that take public funds which would be vouchers though this could change with vouchers for some schools like existing successful private schools.....and most if not all respectable private schools have done quite well without TEA over site and many public schools are failed dumps even after being taken over by the state and TEA....because they are full of ignorant kids with failed parents.....so lack of TEA over site probably only means something to people that are more concerned with social engineering and indoctrination and PC crap than actual education

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.

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.

Wunsche, already open, is a magnet school. The "zoned" schools in SISD are Spring, Dekaney, and Westfield.

BTW I think the area south of Cypress Creek that is indicated in the five year plan as being zoned to Spring HS should be zoned to DeKaney HS instead.

Smaller classes, better instructors, a VISION and EXPECTATION for what they want for their school and students (excellence), better parent-teacher-student partnership building.

I think you also missed one of the newer Spring HS named Wuensche (sp?).