So sad - closing some school libraries so they can serve as disciplinary centers

[Bambam]

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/houston-isd-library-closures-18270518.php

This is not the first controversial news coming from the Houston ISD superintendent - how teacher salaries will be determined is ... unusual. 

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/houston-isd-teacher-salary-subject-18206436.php

 

[Sneezyone]

I feel like this, coupled with the robust disapproval heaped on a district exercising local control, explains a lot. Control for me and none for thee is the name of the game.

People are allowed to do what amount to dumb, counterproductive things if they elect people who want that thing. That’s how majority rule is supposed to work. This isn’t that.

State takeovers userp local control and are primarily used in majority minority areas (see Flint, MI, Birmingham, AL, Little Rock, AR. All were similarly undermined by state actors with no improvement in student/community outcomes. It’s all about money and control, not kids and not families.

This is about taxing/using the resources concentrated in urban areas while affording those populations no actual representation, actively undermining their ability to change course and be represented by people of their choosing because, patting their heads, Father/Mother knows best.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Melissa Louise]

The pay thing is a non-starter, obviously, due to its effects on teacher morale, but it's not so weird to me. 

Schools already value (with money) employees differently.

A principal is valued more highly than the cleaner, for example. 

So in theory, and being consistent, yes, the reading teacher is 'worth' more than the P.E teacher - lost reading skills in elementary compound into academic and other disadvantages as schooling progresses, in a way that not knowing how to pencil roll doesn't. 

The library thing is just ???

Sounds like a school where behavior is a major problem, and that's down to the people at the top, getting the big money. Maybe their pay should be docked until they can find a way to manage student behavior AND run a school library! 

 

[Heartstrings]

I’ve seen some crazy things going along with that.  Principals will set up their office in the hall so they can monitor students.  Students will be required to walk silently, single file down the hall.  They are setting up discipline centers because they are going to need to be punishing large numbers of children regularly.  
 

Prison.  They are turning elementary schools directly into prisons.   

Edited July 31, 2023 by Heartstrings

[Sneezyone]

Just now, Heartstrings said:

I’ve seen some crazy things going along with that.  Principals will set up their office in the hall so they can monitor students.  Students will be required to walk silently, single file down the hall.  They are setting up discipline centers because they are going to need to be punishing large numbers I of children regularly.  
 

Prison.  They are turning elementary schools directly into prisons.   

Indeed. For profit.

[Dmmetler]

34 minutes ago, Melissa Louise said:

The pay thing is a non-starter, obviously, due to its effects on teacher morale, but it's not so weird to me. 

Schools already value (with money) employees differently.

A principal is valued more highly than the cleaner, for example. 

So in theory, and being consistent, yes, the reading teacher is 'worth' more than the P.E teacher - lost reading skills in elementary compound into academic and other disadvantages as schooling progresses, in a way that not knowing how to pencil roll doesn't. 

The library thing is just ???

Sounds like a school where behavior is a major problem, and that's down to the people at the top, getting the big money. Maybe their pay should be docked until they can find a way to manage student behavior AND run a school library! 

 

Willing to bet high school football coaches make more than high school algebra teachers.

FWIW, some teachers have been paid less in some  districts for at least 25 or so years due to “bonuses” based on test scores that only applied to tested subjects. So, as a music specialist I made about $2500/yr less than a classroom teacher because my subject wasn’t tested. It definitely added to the “babysitter” feeling and is one reason why I choose to make less teaching at P&R-respect and autonomy are worth a lot.

 

[Melissa Louise]

4 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

Willing to bet high school football coaches make more than high school algebra teachers.

FWIW, some teachers have been paid less in some  districts for at least 25 or so years due to “bonuses” based on test scores that only applied to tested subjects. So, as a music specialist I made about $2500/yr less than a classroom teacher because my subject wasn’t tested. It definitely added to the “babysitter” feeling and is one reason why I choose to make less teaching at P&R-respect and autonomy are worth a lot.

 

Totally.

Agree about the babysitter vibe, and that respect and autonomy are priceless.

 

[Kidlit]

5 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

Willing to bet high school football coaches make more than high school algebra teachers.

FWIW, some teachers have been paid less in some  districts for at least 25 or so years due to “bonuses” based on test scores that only applied to tested subjects. So, as a music specialist I made about $2500/yr less than a classroom teacher because my subject wasn’t tested. It definitely added to the “babysitter” feeling and is one reason why I choose to make less teaching at P&R-respect and autonomy are worth a lot.

 

Stipends and longer contracts make some teachers earn more the others in my state.  Base pay is based on degree and experience, so based on that, a coach who teaches history wouldn't make more than any other teacher except for the added stipend for the coaching duties.  (Presumably these would be after-hours coaching duties, but I'm not sure it actually always works out that way.)  Recently secondary math and science teachers in my state were given the option of signing a non-tenure eligible contract giving them fairly significantly higher pay with the understanding they'd get STEM or National Board certified.  As a middle School math-certified teacher, I did this for one year.  Having taught high school English and history (also as a certified teacher), I cannot say it felt exactly fair to get paid more to teach math than it did to grade ALL of that writing. 
 

I, too, have chosen for the time to get out of the classroom. My main reason is because of how many non-contract hours I spent each week working.  While those hours are technically not required, I definitely felt it was what I had to do to feel like I was doing an adequate job. 

[rebcoola]

Why do schools need library size rooms to punish students like why is this a thing. What kind of punishment is going on?  

The teacher salary thing is stupid and will obviously be harder for them get teachers especially for "less important" subject.

[Sneezyone]

A friend of mine posted about the number of teacher vacancies in FL. They’re hemorrhaging educators, and 6 weeks before school starts, a lot of kids will be teacher-less. The instruction won’t be ‘woke’ tho, so winning? https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/hundreds-of-brevard-public-school-teachers-leaving-before-new-school-year-starts.amp

[historically accurate]

14 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

A friend of mine posted about the number of teacher vacancies in FL. They’re hemorrhaging educators, and 6 weeks before school starts, a lot of kids will be teacher-less. The instruction won’t be ‘woke’ tho, so winning? https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/hundreds-of-brevard-public-school-teachers-leaving-before-new-school-year-starts.amp

My mom was just telling me they're practically begging people to teach in her area. She lives in Hernando County which is currently about 150 teachers short for the coming school year. About 50 teachers walked out (resigned or retired) following an April(?) school board meeting.

 

 

[Dmmetler]

Just now, historically accurate said:

My mom was just telling me they're practically begging people to teach in her area. She lives in Hernando County which is currently about 150 teachers short for the coming school year. About 50 teachers walked out (resigned or retired) following an April(?) school board meeting.

 

 

The district I worked for is offering to hire anyone with a BS to teach regardless of degree and anyone with two years of college as a teaching assistant with the possibility of long-term substituting. School starts a week from today. 

[Sneezyone]

2 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

My mom was just telling me they're practically begging people to teach in her area. She lives in Hernando County which is currently about 150 teachers short for the coming school year. About 50 teachers walked out (resigned or retired) following an April(?) school board meeting.

 

 

My friend shared the same. Class sizes at their major metro high school are expected to be huge.

[City Mouse]

HISD has always been a train wreck. This is just the new, state appointed, guy grasping at straws trying to do anything that may improve test scores. My sister worked at an HISD high school for several years. She made considerably more than she does now at a much, much smaller district in East Texas, but they couldn’t pay her enough to ever go back. Short term, this new plan may help with recruiting teachers for those higher paying subjects. I know more than one teacher from neighboring districts that have gone to work for HISD for their last 2-3 years of teaching just to pad their pensions since HISD has always paid more that the other districts, but it will take way more that 2-3 to make measurable improvements in HISD.

 

[TheReader]

16 hours ago, rebcoola said:

Why do schools need library size rooms to punish students like why is this a thing. What kind of punishment is going on?  

The teacher salary thing is stupid and will obviously be harder for them get teachers especially for "less important" subject.

Not that I'm in any kind of agreement with anything about any of this (it's beyond ridiculous), but what I imagine the rooms are going to be are kind of in-school suspension rooms or something. Some districts have whole alternative campuses for kids who are repeat offenders, so to speak. They go there, do their work (or different work), etc. 

I suspect this is going to be used for something like that. Which still doesn't anywhere near make it right, in the least, but....

[rebcoola]

2 hours ago, TheReader said:

Not that I'm in any kind of agreement with anything about any of this (it's beyond ridiculous), but what I imagine the rooms are going to be are kind of in-school suspension rooms or something. Some districts have whole alternative campuses for kids who are repeat offenders, so to speak. They go there, do their work (or different work), etc. 

I suspect this is going to be used for something like that. Which still doesn't anywhere near make it right, in the least, but....

Idk about other schools but our assigned high school's  in school suspension is two cubicles in the office school for like 3000 kids so it still seems like over kill.

[Dmmetler]

50 minutes ago, rebcoola said:

Idk about other schools but our assigned high school's  in school suspension is two cubicles in the office school for like 3000 kids so it still seems like over kill.

I would agree. The school I taught at was 800 kids. The most kids I can remember ever having in BOTH ISS and OSS together was 4-and that was after a major fight in the cafeteria.  I can't imagine needing the third biggest room in the school for a handful of kids daily, so they must have a LOT more kids excluded from class!

 

There was one alternative campus for 6th-12th graders who had been expelled from their home schools in the largest school district in the state. There was also one for pregnant/parenting students which provided childcare and parenting classes and extra support. And a couple for kids with various specific needs that couldn't easily be met in the school setting. 

 

But, in general, the goal was always to keep kids IN class, IN their neighborhood school, and with their peers. It basically took something that would require an appearance in Juvenile court to get a kid out of class for more than maybe a couple of hours, and that was usually because a neurodivergent kid needed a break from the classroom for a little while. 

 

 

[TexasProud]

Just FYI, disciplinary actions in the district

https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/cgi/sas/broker

[Idalou]

They're calling them Zoom rooms. The kids will be sent there, they don't know say which misbehaviors or how many will land them there,  to watch their teacher in zoom, individually or in groups. So I guess they are already anticipating more than one offender per classroom.They have not said how many adult babysitters will be hired to police the TV viewers. The books will remain and kids can check them out before or after school, on the honor system due to ridding themselves of librarians, so no problems with that! Maybe the imprisoned zoomer kids can restock the books daily as part of their rehabilitation.

I am sure we can all guess which schools in HISD will be full of books and technology and all that entails and which ones will be used by the least amount of kids. It's exactly what the jerks in charge have been dreaming of, don't kid yourself. The mayor, God bless him, knows what he is up against.

Edited August 1, 2023 by Idalou

[Melissa Louise]

I don't know what it's like there, but here, in school assaults have risen 50% in the last decade. 

I don't believe in turning libraries into disciplinary centres; I do believe in safe workplaces, for staff and students.

I have no answers, btw, but schools can be sites of significant harm, not only to students, but also to staff, and to student-victims of peers. 

It's really frustrating to see that some student behaviour is apparently unsolvable. 

 

 

[Sneezyone]

2 hours ago, Idalou said:

They're calling them Zoom rooms. The kids will be sent there, they don't know say which misbehaviors or how many will land them there,  to watch their teacher in zoom, individually or in groups. So I guess they are already anticipating more than one offender per classroom.They have not said how many adult babysitters will be hired to police the TV viewers. The books will remain and kids can check them out before or after school, on the honor system due to ridding themselves of librarians, so no problems with that! Maybe the imprisoned zoomer kids can restock the books daily as part of their rehabilitation.

I am sure we can all guess which schools in HISD will be full of books and technology and all that entails and which ones will be used by the least amount of kids. It's exactly what the jerks in charge have been dreaming of, don't kid yourself. The mayor, God bless him, knows what he is up against.

What could go wrong with undefined parameters and unelected leadership? It’s not like we don’t know what happens when zoom is the primary method of instruction. Dropout factories in the making. Again, for profit. Incarceration rates aren’t as high as they used to be. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2023/03/14/whole_pie_2023/#:~:text=Prison populations are starting to,longer driving down prison admissions.

Edited August 1, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Sneezyone]

To be fair, there are real issues with student discipline post-pandemic…EVERYWHERE. None of the stuff outlined by HISDs overseers includes any research/evidence based support. There’s no expanded wrap around care for students and families in crisis, no counselors, no food aid, no support for housing security, nothing. Just warehouse kids who act out in even minor ways (this is the NYC broken windows policing policy being applied in schools) and give them an even more subpar learning experience. IT DOESN’T WORK except to line the pockets of those who wish only to extract resources, human and otherwise, from urban areas. I do not believe, for one moment, that is what the residents of Houston would choose for themselves if they had a choice, which they don’t.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Heartstrings]

3 hours ago, Dmmetler said:

I would agree. The school I taught at was 800 kids. The most kids I can remember ever having in BOTH ISS and OSS together was 4-and that was after a major fight in the cafeteria.  I can't imagine needing the third biggest room in the school for a handful of kids daily, so they must have a LOT more kids excluded from class!

 

There was one alternative campus for 6th-12th graders who had been expelled from their home schools in the largest school district in the state. There was also one for pregnant/parenting students which provided childcare and parenting classes and extra support. And a couple for kids with various specific needs that couldn't easily be met in the school setting. 

 

But, in general, the goal was always to keep kids IN class, IN their neighborhood school, and with their peers. It basically took something that would require an appearance in Juvenile court to get a kid out of class for more than maybe a couple of hours, and that was usually because a neurodivergent kid needed a break from the classroom for a little while. 

 

 

I think that really varies from school to school.  My son spent 1/3-1/2 of his Kindergarten in ISS.  One memorable time was for having an “eraser battle” on his desk after finishing his work.  A lot of places over discipline.  

[Shoeless]

6 minutes ago, Heartstrings said:

I think that really varies from school to school.  My son spent 1/3-1/2 of his Kindergarten in ISS.  One memorable time was for having an “eraser battle” on his desk after finishing his work.  A lot of places over discipline.  

Why is ISS even a thing for kindy kids?! 

Back in the dark ages, when I attended school, ISS was only at the high school level.

[Heartstrings]

17 minutes ago, Shoeless said:

Why is ISS even a thing for kindy kids?! 

Back in the dark ages, when I attended school, ISS was only at the high school level.

The principal said that if we would just let him paddle my kid he wouldn’t have so much trouble, so…

[TechWife]

 

23 hours ago, Melissa Louise said:

The pay thing is a non-starter, obviously, due to its effects on teacher morale, but it's not so weird to me. 

Schools already value (with money) employees differently.

A principal is valued more highly than the cleaner, for example. 

So in theory, and being consistent, yes, the reading teacher is 'worth' more than the P.E teacher - lost reading skills in elementary compound into academic and other disadvantages as schooling progresses, in a way that not knowing how to pencil roll doesn't. 

The library thing is just ???

Sounds like a school where behavior is a major problem, and that's down to the people at the top, getting the big money. Maybe their pay should be docked until they can find a way to manage student behavior AND run a school library! 

 

It bothers me that the Pre-K, K & 1st grade teachers make a lot less than the 2nd & up teachers. These are the teachers that lay the foundational reading skills. If a school system is concerts out their literacy rate, paying these teachers well should be a priority, as would having a robust library program! 

I totally agree with you, @Melissa Louise- they have a systemic discipline problem and sticking kids into what is basically remote learning is not going to address it. I also thought educators decided remote learning isn’t a really a good idea. So, are they thinking the kids will do better if they’re supervised? What about all of the social contact that kids missed out on the past two years? Is that less important now? I truly don’t understand.

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, TechWife said:

 

It bothers me that the Pre-K, K & 1st grade teachers make a lot less than the 2nd & up teachers. These are the teachers that lay the foundational reading skills. If a school system is concerts out their literacy rate, paying these teachers well should be a priority, as would having a robust library program! 

I totally agree with you, @Melissa Louise- they have a systemic discipline problem and sticking kids into what is basically remote learning is not going to address it. I also thought educators decided remote learning isn’t a really a good idea. So, are they thinking the kids will do better if they’re supervised? What about all of the social contact that kids missed out on the past two years? Is that less important now? I truly don’t understand.

I think you’re not understanding because you’re trying to assume good things despite evidence to the contrary. All the evidence shows that isolation and remote learning will/do worsen student performance/achievement/learning/mental health. Why would anyone *want* to reduce educational outcomes/mental health? Start there with 4 more whys.

Edited August 2, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Sneezyone]

5 hours ago, TexasProud said:

Just FYI, disciplinary actions in the district

https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/cgi/sas/broker

FYI-the link no longer works. Intentional??

[Sneezyone]

I just read this last night, background on the takeover: https://wapo.st/3On51kk

[Bambam]

3 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

I just read this last night, background on the takeover: https://wapo.st/3On51kk

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. 
It's good to read another viewpoint than the local Houston newspaper. 

[shawthorne44]

The Texas exurb where I live now, had the schools taken over by the state shortly before we moved here.   The teachers and administrators hate it because it is basically saying, "You really really really screwed up."   Parents and students liked it.  What happened in our school district was that everyone was auto-fired.   Then they had job interviews and most teachers and staff went back to working where they were before.  Dead wood and bad apples weren't rehired.  Because of the public school problems it has made this area really awesome to homeschool.   Many accidental homeschoolers that fled the bad schools decided they liked homeschooling, so this area has a much higher percentage of homeschoolers.  The schools didn't have a discipline problem, just an academic one.  

I also taught in a high school that had been in the takeover status.   Poor area and I think 86% of the kids were illegal aliens, and 97% on the school lunch/breakfast program.  As a teacher, it was awesome.  Because of the takeover, there was plenty of money for books, photocopying, etc.   The kids were great and since it was high school everyone's English was great.  

 

Edited August 3, 2023 by shawthorne44

[Dmmetler]

2 hours ago, shawthorne44 said:

The Texas exurb where I live now, had the schools taken over by the state shortly before we moved here.   The teachers and administrators hate it because it is basically saying, "You really really really screwed up."   Parents and students liked it.  What happened in our school district was that everyone was auto-fired.   Then they had job interviews and most teachers and staff went back to working where they were before.  Dead wood and bad apples weren't rehired.  Because of the public school problems it has made this area really awesome to homeschool.   Many accidental homeschoolers that fled the bad schools decided they liked homeschooling, so this area has a much higher percentage of homeschoolers.  The schools didn't have a discipline problem, just an academic one.  

I also taught in a high school that had been in the takeover status.   Poor area and I think 86% of the kids were illegal aliens, and 97% on the school lunch/breakfast program.  As a teacher, it was awesome.  Because of the takeover, there was plenty of money for books, photocopying, etc.   The kids were great and since it was high school everyone's English was great.  

 

This is the district that was formed via the state taking over schools and turning them over to private charter providers to manage. Let's just say that the results haven't been stellar. 

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/tennessee/achievement-school-district/4700147-school-district

 

[Sneezyone]

On 8/3/2023 at 12:25 PM, shawthorne44 said:

The Texas exurb where I live now, had the schools taken over by the state shortly before we moved here.   The teachers and administrators hate it because it is basically saying, "You really really really screwed up."   Parents and students liked it.  What happened in our school district was that everyone was auto-fired.   Then they had job interviews and most teachers and staff went back to working where they were before.  Dead wood and bad apples weren't rehired.  Because of the public school problems it has made this area really awesome to homeschool.   Many accidental homeschoolers that fled the bad schools decided they liked homeschooling, so this area has a much higher percentage of homeschoolers.  The schools didn't have a discipline problem, just an academic one.  

I also taught in a high school that had been in the takeover status.   Poor area and I think 86% of the kids were illegal aliens, and 97% on the school lunch/breakfast program.  As a teacher, it was awesome.  Because of the takeover, there was plenty of money for books, photocopying, etc.   The kids were great and since it was high school everyone's English was great.  

 

I feel like this whole post is predicated on the assumption that takeovers are good for TEACHERS and speaks, not at all, to students/learning. Parents and students, particularly low-income ones don't know what they don't know. By and large, they don't know that their A-student kids are getting watered down instruction/content. THEY CARE about the education f their kids otherwise their kids wouldn't be excelling. They may not know or know how to demand MORE.

*You* got more money via takeover and more money is helpful. That should be provided whether there's a takeover or not. *You* didn't have to exert yourself to learn new skills, identify or develop talent among ESL/LEP students. What did the students get? What did the community get? What was the outcome in terms of learning?

The dismantling and underfunding of quality public education is a net loss for everyone.

Worth a revisit: 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Dmmetler]

5 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

I feel like this whole post is predicated on the assumption that takeovers are good for TEACHERS and speaks, not at all, to students/learning. Parents and students, particularly low-income ones don't know what they don't know. By and large, they don't know that their A-student kids are getting watered down instruction/content. THEY CARE about the education f their kids otherwise their kids wouldn't be excelling. They may not know or know how to demand MORE.

*You* got more money via takeover and more money is helpful. That should be provided whether there's a takeover or not. *You* didn't have to exert yourself to learn new skills, identify or develop talent among ESL/LEP students. What did the students get? What did the community get? What was the outcome in terms of learning?

The dismantling and underfunding of quality public education is a net loss for everyone.

What we saw here was a lot of bells and whistles, but not a lot that would actually improve schools. Lots of uniforms, lots of "give every kid a device", lots of things like teachers being required to be accessible to parents 24-7  via giving each a cell phone to take home-but actual programming...not so much. Lots of first year and just out of college temporary certificate/alternative cert programs who didn't even last a year. Lots of long term and short term substitutes. 

 

Ultimately, none of the problems were solved, and I mean none, and the outcomes for kids were worse. It also pushed kids out of schools that were blocks from their house because the district school that was the default was now much farther away, and the new taken over school had an application process, and a lot of parents who were already struggling found it just one more hoop to miss. 

[Terabith]

My personal hypothesis is that we’re deliberately going against everything that we know increases kids’ achievement in order to suppress reading skills so we can fill the prisons.  It’s the only way I can make sense of the crazy reading curriculum and the no recess and draconian but ineffective behavior control.  The teachers are often great but the system is not.  

[TexasProud]

4 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

I feel like this whole post is predicated on the assumption that takeovers are good for TEACHERS and speaks, not at all, to students/learning. Parents and students, particularly low-income ones don't know what they don't know. By and large, they don't know that their A-student kids are getting watered down instruction/content. THEY CARE about the education f their kids otherwise their kids wouldn't be excelling. They may not know or know how to demand MORE.

*You* got more money via takeover and more money is helpful. That should be provided whether there's a takeover or not. *You* didn't have to exert yourself to learn new skills, identify or develop talent among ESL/LEP students. What did the students get? What did the community get? What was the outcome in terms of learning?

The dismantling and underfunding of quality public education is a net loss for everyone.

Worth a revisit: 

 

Thanks for reposting.  Yes, it is continuing to get worse.  My district:

Background for the make-up of the district: 13% African American, 37%Hispanic, 44 % White

64 percent disadvantaged (This is for last year.  The stats are closer to 70 percent for the current year)
20 percent are in ESL

It says 98 percent of students graduate, but that just isn't true.  If you look at it ( and I have been watching this for awhile, so it isn't a matter of class fluctuation), the freshman class has over 300 kids in it.  Normally 310-320.  260 graduated this year.  So more like an 83-85 percent graduation rate.  Ok, interesting, I went way down on the accountability report and at the end when it talks about the graduation rates for specific classes it says 85 percent.  So I am not sure what the 98 percent that everyone puts everywhere actually represents. 

Only 37.6 percent of the kids in my district actually took the SAT/ACT and out of that only 32 percent of those passed with a score that showed college readiness. 

For high school only 57 percent passed end of course test for English I.   68% passed end of course test for English II  (Probably higher because some dropped out. )
68 percent passed Algebra I- again, I have to wonder how many kids even took it. Only 54 percent passed the math test in 7th grade.  

Oh, and our district received a B rating...   And our scores are similar and in some cases worse than Houston ISD. 

Also, in the passing rate isn't even meets the standard, it is approaching meeting the standard. When you put meets the standard as the actual standard the passing rates for 3rd grade math and reading were 38 percent. 6th graders 24 percent.  8th graders 27 percent. 

[Sneezyone]

2 hours ago, TexasProud said:

Thanks for reposting.  Yes, it is continuing to get worse.  My district:

Background for the make-up of the district: 13% African American, 37%Hispanic, 44 % White

64 percent disadvantaged (This is for last year.  The stats are closer to 70 percent for the current year)
20 percent are in ESL

It says 98 percent of students graduate, but that just isn't true.  If you look at it ( and I have been watching this for awhile, so it isn't a matter of class fluctuation), the freshman class has over 300 kids in it.  Normally 310-320.  260 graduated this year.  So more like an 83-85 percent graduation rate.  Ok, interesting, I went way down on the accountability report and at the end when it talks about the graduation rates for specific classes it says 85 percent.  So I am not sure what the 98 percent that everyone puts everywhere actually represents. 

Only 37.6 percent of the kids in my district actually took the SAT/ACT and out of that only 32 percent of those passed with a score that showed college readiness. 

For high school only 57 percent passed end of course test for English I.   68% passed end of course test for English II  (Probably higher because some dropped out. )
68 percent passed Algebra I- again, I have to wonder how many kids even took it. Only 54 percent passed the math test in 7th grade.  

Oh, and our district received a B rating...   And our scores are similar and in some cases worse than Houston ISD. 

Also, in the passing rate isn't even meets the standard, it is approaching meeting the standard. When you put meets the standard as the actual standard the passing rates for 3rd grade math and reading were 38 percent. 6th graders 24 percent.  8th graders 27 percent. 

This is an issue that few want to acknowledge. The takeover of HISD wasn’t because it had some poorly performing schools/discipline issues. Many schools are poorly performing and have discipline issues. It was taken over because it was, and is, a majority minority district, in an area of economic growth, that doesn’t support the state overseers (thus lacking the capacity to fight back). I see this as part of a slow march toward minority rule/ fascism/autocracy but others’ mileage may vary. Fascism is not part of the political history, historical traditions of the United States, but that does not mean it can’t happen here.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Sneezyone]

wrong thread.

Edited August 6, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Heartstrings]

7 hours ago, Terabith said:

My personal hypothesis is that we’re deliberately going against everything that we know increases kids’ achievement in order to suppress reading skills so we can fill the prisons.  It’s the only way I can make sense of the crazy reading curriculum and the no recess and draconian but ineffective behavior control.  The teachers are often great but the system is not.  

The fact that they use reading scores to predict  the need for prison beds in the future tied with the fact that we have for profit prisons means that this cannot be overlooked as a possibility or at least as a factor.  

[Shoeless]

2 hours ago, Heartstrings said:

The fact that they use reading scores to predict  the need for prison beds in the future tied with the fact that we have for profit prisons means that this cannot be overlooked as a possibility or at least as a factor.  

It would be interesting to see what, if any, ties exist between the companies owning for-profit prisons and curriculum producing companies.

[Heartstrings]

56 minutes ago, Shoeless said:

It would be interesting to see what, if any, ties exist between the companies owning for-profit prisons and curriculum producing companies.

Interesting!  I’ll have to save that rabbit hole for tomorrow, though. A quick look at MorningStar.com shows that the same funds own shares of companies in both industries.  I’m curious about ownership, so Ill dive into that tomorrow.