84th Texas legislature

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I hate Patrick more than any other Texas politician. He's a complete nut and has been suicidal in the past. I'm not a governor goodchair fan either but I think he comes across looking sane compared to beaver boy.
 
I am a teacher and D Patrick was the "lesser of two evils" I guess, although I didn't vote for him. I'm with Larry in that the state cut too far back when it was a bad year. Our district is struggling, classes are much larger now in the high school because staff that retired were not replaced, etc. I would agree to some extent that vouchers could be handy, but not to much degree in rural areas where students ride buses to school because parents are unable to provide transportation. Plus there are limited opportunities for them to attend a private school, which in rural areas are almost non-existent. I like the banter between you two, good reading and good information.
 
"lesser of two evils?" from the perspective of a classroom teacher. My memory fails. Was Patrick running against Darth Vader, Skeletor or the Wicked Witch of the West?
 
I find it interesting that you said the school cuts went too far. You are a pretty conservative guy, probably more than myself. I voted for Van De Putte for two reasons. First, I would take Van De Putte who could get none of her agenda through over Patrick who can now get all of his agenda through. Beaver boy already has started with the bull **** rules change to make it even easier.

Secondly, he started lying about the education cuts. I don't like much about the guy but at least he's usually honest. Well, in this last campaign he started claiming "he led the charge to restore some of the funding". This was absolute crap and earned him a "pants on fire" rating from politifact. If you want to be the education cuts guy, go for it BUT you should own it. Hell, Glenn Hegar bragged about it and used it to win his primary.
 
FNL,

Rural districts are the Legislature's big headache. There are enough rural members (almost all of whom are Republicans) that they can't be ignored. Furthermore, the politics are dicey because school districts are extremely powerful in rural areas, primarily because the districts employ a large percentage of the rural population, and those employees are politically active. When the GOP has to compromise on its education policy agenda, it's almost always because of rural members.

If you think the cuts were excessive (and they were), you don't want to know what the Legislature would do if rural members weren't in the way. They'd ignore the politics of rural areas and consolidate districts, which would be Armageddon - massive layoffs especially at the administrative level but also among teachers.

Thanks for the kind words. Larry always brings his sharp intellect and ability to think outside the political box to this forum, and that makes it easy to have good dialogue.
 
I voted for Butler for the same reason as you voting for VDP. Couldn't do any damage like Patrick. I sent my kids to a private school, and vouchers would have helped. We made the transportation issue work, but most families in rural low income districts like the one I work in cannot. I am not sure the voucher system is going to work in Texas if the caveat of state mandated testing is attached to it. Private schools don't seem to be struggling financially and also recruiting goes well with families looking for parochial schools with tradition Christian values. I am conservative on some issues, but try to be pragmatic without losing my sense of direction.
 
Wonderful news. Just what education needs, another hack to tell us how to do our jobs because they know better than we do. Thanks for the info, now go have a great German brew!
 
Why? That is embarrassing.

You ever get a gift that you just can’t figure out what it is? State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr. has filed HB 662. This is the whole operative thing:

“Sec. 39.0531. STUDENTS EVALUATED FOR PURPOSES OF ACCOUNTABILITY RATINGS. Notwithstanding any other law, for purposes of evaluating school district and campus performance under Section 39.053(c), only the performance of African American males may be considered.”

No one will take you seriously if you put out crap like this to be discussed.
 
FNL,

I'd be surprised if this bill gets a hearing and would be doubly shocked if it gets sent to the floor. In short, it won't get much serious discussion. Dutton isn't a particularly useful member. His record of accomplishment is pretty light considering that he is the third most senior member in the House (30 year tenure). I'm not surprised to see him filing this kind of junk.
 
How does someone like that continue to get re-elected? You are right in that it won't get a hearing, but why even file it? Who is pandering to, and why would they care? Is he wanting to shame a specific group? What would be the motivation for a bill like that?
 
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