Texas Schools

[Horn2RunAgain]

True. The cities are hell. I wonder what the main difference is between rural and urban schools.

The isd she's with now has a "zero tolerance " for 4th grade up in reference to conduct beyond minor disrespect. Even then it's 3 strikes & you're out for minor disrespect . Result is, parents get involved quickly. Get kicked out, and the kid has lufkin or diboll isd to deal with after being expelled. Neither are acceptable to responsible parents in comparison

She's had 2 students expelled and booted this year. Last year, none. One for continued disrespect towards another teacher, the other for multiple instances of a lot of stuff. The latter, my wife went to bat for but lost. The mother was a bigger problem for the administration than the kid and apparently it's been that way for 3 years. He's now in lufkin I believe . Chaotic home life, which was evident at a scene I saw in town away from school

If all ISDs were like the one my wife is with now there would be few issues.

 

[Monahorns]

The isd she's with now has a "zero tolerance " for 4th grade up in reference to conduct beyond minor disrespect. Even then it's 3 strikes & you're out for minor disrespect . Result is, parents get involved quickly. Get kicked out, and the kid has lufkin or diboll isd to deal with after being expelled. Neither are acceptable to responsible parents in comparison

She's had 2 students expelled and booted this year. Last year, none. One for continued disrespect towards another teacher, the other for multiple instances of a lot of stuff. The latter, my wife went to bat for but lost. The mother was a bigger problem for the administration than the kid and apparently it's been that way for 3 years. He's now in lufkin I believe . Chaotic home life, which was evident at a scene I saw in town away from school

If all ISDs were like the one my wife is with now there would be few issues.

Yes. Holding people accountable for their actions works. Only rural ISDs do that. I wonder what the big difference is between urban and rural ISDs is? I can think of several but I want y'all to think about it.

 

[Horn2RunAgain]

Yes. Holding people accountable for their actions works. Only rural ISDs do that. I wonder what the big difference is between urban and rural ISDs is? I can think of several but I want y'all to think about it.

Parents.

Parental involvement, parental responsibility

Fwiw, my wife's school isn't rural. Semi rural would be an accurate description. Most kids there aren't really "country" but some are.

 

[guy4321]

Yes, parents are a monumental component of schools working well. I'd throw in suburban as different than either rural or city but not as a knock on rural. Those generally have great parental involvement, which is why they're desirable for those with school-aged kids.

 

[Mr. Deez]

Just FYI - I cast my absentee ballot yesterday. There was a billion dollars in bonds. That's about $20,000 for every student. Insanity. Voted No on all of it.

Local debt gets almost no attention, but it's a big deal. Needs to be reined in.

 

[Horn6721]

The Mayor of Dallas and several Council Members are asking voters to vote No on Every prop on ballot including one to give them raises. If all fail they can work on better solutions to the issues. If even one passes apparently they can do nothing for 2 years on those issues.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

Local debt gets almost no attention, but it's a big deal. Needs to be reined in.

Agreed, Deez. And I suspect many voters aren't well informed and just automatically vote for "better schools/roads/whatever." I tend to vote straight GOP and "No" on all the propositions.

 

[ViperHorn]

Dallas is so screwed by the Police and Fire Pension Fund that it doesn't make any difference.

If you don't know the story, look it up. You will see that Dallas turned over the police and fire pension funds not to an investment manager but to the police and firemen thinking putting out physical fires and chasing cokeheads prepare one to manage billions of dollars.

 

[BrntOrngStmpeDe]

Dallas is so screwed by the Police and Fire Pension Fund that it doesn't make any difference.

If you don't know the story, look it up. You will see that Dallas turned over the police and fire pension funds not to an investment manager but to the police and firemen thinking putting out physical fires and chasing cokeheads prepare one to manage billions of dollars.

Defined benefit plans ALL need to go the way of the dodo. It is very hard to reliably forecast returns of a fund for 30-40 years into the future. And the people invested in the payouts always tilt the scales and "expected returns" calculations to favor themselves.

We also need to do away with the expectation that anyone can retire in their early 40's and live the rest of their lives receiving a pension. It is just not feasible to fund what could possibly be 50+ years of income after someone retires at 42. I am the recipient of a military retirement, and I can tell you that it is too generous. While military, LEOs, firefighters do put themselves in harm's way and should be helped and compensated if they get injured doing the job, the current schemes for retirement are too much.

The existing model of 20 years was developed at a time when most people were only going to draw for 5-7 years after retirement. Now, we are frequently paying folks for 35+ years. This is unsustainable and government agencies should quit.