Will AISD schools be worth attending after the budget cuts? (Austin: spring break, mover)
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It's an interesting problem for sure. I have to wonder if Eanes residents would be more willing to donate funds when it's going to offset cuts of actual teachers for their children in classrooms. The issues on the bond package seemed like luxuries... building a swim center, a new student fitness facility, a new elementary school, technology upgrades and buses... all important but definitely luxuries with hefty price tags. I suspect when we're talking things that hit every classroom, that position might change.
Eanes had three bond packages. The first one was for building repairs and renovations, and it almost (and should have) passed. The other two were downright silly, one for a brand new elementary school building to replace a perfectly good one a few miles away, and the other to build a second football stadium so the high school football team wouldn't have to share it with the middle schoolers. Unless I misremember the details.
I think they could have gotten the first bond passed if they hadn't sounded so ridiculous with the others. People live in Eanes because they take their education seriously. I hope they would support their schools in time of actual need.
I'm was tring to decide between Eanes or AISD. I was leaning towards AISD since it seemed most like the district my kids are coming from(urban, diverse). I wasn't sure we'd fit into Eanes, but would you reconsider Eanes if you were in my situation? I'm not sure what to make of it all and dislike alarmist mentality, but want to be realistic.
Lttt, we're in a similar situation. It is not an easy decision. Eanes is not without its drawbacks. But they certainly have the resources to keep their doors open, and a world-class education besides.
AISD appears to be collapsing upon itself, and I'm afraid it's going to carry much of the central city down with it. This is an absolute disaster.
Aids sucks! More than 60 percent of students are economically disadvantage.class sizes will know increase to 37 or so. Over 100k teachers in Texas are losing jobsl
Lttt, we're in a similar situation. It is not an easy decision. Eanes is not without its drawbacks. But they certainly have the resources to keep their doors open, and a world-class education besides.
AISD appears to be collapsing upon itself, and I'm afraid it's going to carry much of the central city down with it. This is an absolute disaster.
That is over-stated!
I'd go private before I'd go to Eanes
Private school has its disadvantages too.... among them being the tuition, the time investment in transporting your kids to and from school every day for the next 13 years, and isolation from other neighborhood kids.
Living in Eanes is a heckuva lot cheaper than living central and paying private school tuition. Although money is not the only factor when choosing a child's education, it's certainly a constraint.
That is over-stated!
I'd go private before I'd go to Eanes
just curious - why is that? As a future resident, I'm just curious why this might be, since we have our options narrowed down to a couple neighborhoods in each district.
just curious - why is that? As a future resident, I'm just curious why this might be, since we have our options narrowed down to a couple neighborhoods in each district.
Well, you could search the threads. Despite Eanes having the common wisdom of being the "best school district in central texas" there are now and have been over the years a small but steady group of folks who could afford to live there but do not. (To be fair, Austin-Steve is a big Westlake fan and current parent and you can search his posts and find a smart, well-reasoned defense of the district). There is no perfect school district for every child. Do your research and know your kid!
In general, Eanes is a big, single-high school district, so everything is hyper-competitive. Sports, journalism, fine arts, theater, etc. Lots of kids put lots of pressure on themselves. Its a very wealthy district so high-end drugs are available and there is a strand of students there who are very entitled. The money and effort spent on athletics is jaw-dropping
Classes sizes for AP and other advanced classes are quite large, often over 28. Which might be small for public hs but large in comparison to private.
There is intense effort to have parents give to the school's foundation. Fundraising is constant. Some think that it is equal to or exceeds many private school in the intensity of fund-raising, you just don't get to pay your property tax and that's it.
If you have a socially adept, moderately competitive kid who is also a conventional learner, Westlake could be a good option. But if you or your family is outside the norm, needs accommodation, or just likes a lower stress environment . . . well, I'd think twice.
The primary reason Zilker and similar elementary schools in AISD do well is demographics. The kids who attend those schools are part of families with money, they care about education, and do the same thing other motivated kids do. If you exchanged the entire staff of Zilker with a much lower performing campus the results wouldn't change much at either campus.
"Blacks and Mexican-Americans are not academically competitive with whites in selective institutions. It is the result primarily of cultural effects. It seems to be the case that, various studies seem to show, that blacks and Mexican-Americans spend much less time in school. They have a culture that seems not to encourage achievement. Failure is not looked upon with disgrace.'' (Emphasis added.) Lino Graglia, UT Law Professor, 1997
I was a student at UT when Mr. Graglia made these statements. Your post, in particular the part I have in bold, brought them back to mind. I recall the maelstrom which followed his words and oftentimes the pursuant discussions were more hurtful and devoid of logic than Mr. Graglia's words themselves. It did much to make me feel even more unwanted on the UT campus. In one of my classes, a government class about Latino Politics, my professor, Rodolfo O. De La Garza, who now teaches at Columbia, permitted us to talk about the debate. He'd heard a few students discussing the topic before the start of class and wanted to know where his students stood on the matter. Now bear in mind that though this was a Latino Politics course a majority of the students were white. The course was a GOV 312L, required to fulfill degree requirements, it was the only thing some of them could get into. Many were not all that interested in the content.
Upon invitation a lively debate ensued and most of the comments did not say anything new. Some: "I think he's saying something that's true. It's an ugly truth that we don't want to acknowledge." Others: "He's being racist." It was not that simple. I was a timid sophomore and did not raise my hand to offer my own insight. I believed that Mr. Graglia was speaking nonsense. Latinos and African Americans were underrepresented in places of higher education, not because they did not view failure with disdain, but because they had long been denied models of what success looks like, what it could be to have a tradition of higher education, professionalism, and success. I would have cited LBJ, "You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: 'now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.' You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, "you are free to compete with all the others," and still justly believe you have been completely fair [...]"
But I wouldn't have expected many of them to understand. Because quite a few of them had never known what it was like to have someone look at you and deem that you were probably not capable of more. Many of them did indeed have mothers and fathers who were active participants in their educational decisions. Quite a few of them had relatives who'd attended UT before them. My only connection to the school was that my grandmother had been a cleaning lady at Jester dormitory (she was from Mexico, but UT didn't ever ask for her papers, she was good enough to clean their floors) and when I was a little girl she would bring me pens she found because she knew I loved pens and writing. I was a strange child. Many of them had parents who could teach them about the importance of the SAT, show them how to fill out a FAFSA (if they even needed a FAFSA), and how to fill out a college application. But there were others, others like me, who had parents who worked 12-14 hour days (my father was a furniture mover and my mother cleaned hotel rooms at the Hilton, this was a step up from the time she'd worked in a meat packing plant.) Many of us did not know people who could afford expensive SAT prep courses, afford tutors, or take AP courses (often not extensively offered at our schools). Many of us worked throughout high school and in college. We didn't just work summer jobs, we always worked.
In my sophomore year of high school a counselor approached me about the prospect of attending the Liberal Arts Academy. I asked her what it was as I had no idea. She offered a nice counselor-like explanation and ended the pitch by informing me I'd have to wake up at 6am to attend and be bused to the school. I said no. Why? Because I had no reference point. I didn't know that it would have been an opportunity for me to really become exceptional, to truly engross myself in learning. I just knew it meant getting up early and I was only 15. And guess what? My parents didn't know what it was either (I lived with my father during this time), so they were not able to steer me toward what was, looking back, a decision I regret not having made. But I had no models. It was not because I came from a family that did not "care about education."
At one point during that classroom discussion Professor De la Garza had tears in his eyes and turned away from us. With his back to us he said, "I'm sorry. It's just that I get so angry when I hear someone say things like this. Look at pop culture. It's filled with examples of people who are told not to educate themselves, look at Breaking Away, Rudy, or go back to Thomas Hardy and Jude the Obscure. None of those people are Latino or Black! It's wrong to believe something so incorrect." After this class, after watching my professor so free to shed tears and reveal his passion, I decided I wanted to study policy. I became a Government major because of Dr. De La Garza, for better or worse.
I will not, by any means, pretend my personal experience can be grafted onto others and serve to pacify those who hunger for quantitative support to every statement made in this forum. I only know that I did not come from a "family with money", much less one with a tradition of higher education and professional success. In some ways I am saddened to recognize I have not done right by those who came before me. I'm jobless, penniless, and bordering on hopeless. Even so, I did get my diploma. And I did in spite of people who believe that I am borne of a class or demographic which doesn't "value education." Nothing could be further from the truth. I would put my intellect against those who are purported to have a higher value for education any day. I am intelligent, inquisitive, and always willing to feast on new knowledge, and nothing has ever stopped me from being as much or partaking often. Not being on free lunch, living in Section 8 housing, or being a Black/Latina woman shuttling between unmarried parents. If I hadn't met the occasional teacher and had the occasional class which made me recognize the power of learning and the breadth of the world's knowledge supply, perhaps I would not have attended university. So maybe taking some of those good teachers and putting them in front of the children so many are willing to forsake may have the impact you claim it won't. I may not have come from a family that's supposed to love education, but I did come from a family full of love, an appreciation for hard work, and a recognition that nothing comes easy.
Having said all of that, to the OP, I say this: You have the power to make your child's education a meaningful experience. If you have the ability to be involved in your child's experience, chances are that will be of significance. Everyone has their opinion about what will make for a better education. Money, private schools, charter schools, technology. Many it's a little bit of all of it? Maybe it's none of it. My personal feeling is it starts with your child. A child can have all of the resources any parent could dream to give their child and still just not enjoy school. It can be worth it if you are able to cogently communicate as much to your child.
For the record, I attended AISD. I attended what most on this board would probably describe as some of the worst of Austin's schools (Oaks Springs, Dobie Middle School, Lanier), but I made it, despite what some view as what makes someone "care about" education.
Last edited by Nomadic9460678748; 01-27-2011 at 07:26 PM..
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