Mayor Castro and Downtown Neighborhoods and Schools (San Antonio, Anton: population, place)

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by JuneOf48

(By the way, my house makes a brief appearance in the video--but I won't say where!)

Nice video.

(and a school in my neighborhood also makes a brief appearance)

My one problem with it is that the homeowners still had to apply for an in-district charter. THAT is one reason we chose the private school route - no assurances that your child (or their sibling) will be accepted.

The funny thing is that it isn't necessarily the DISTRICT that has caused the success of these charters, as the fights to keep Bonham Elementary (probably the district's biggest success story) open are legendary.

Now if only we could elect some better SAISD Board Members...

(but perhaps they are finally coming around)

[Pancho-Villa]

Originally Posted by sapphire

No sense pointing out the .gov because as he says "anyone" can publish studies to the contrary.

[Mod cut: off topic]

Maybe he could've used the extra year of Pre K ?

[huckster]

Is always guranteed accurate. Non-partisan? I do not miss much.
I will believe it.
Especially if you've quoted it, then I believe it, rye.
What kind of grammar is this anyway? quote; (than you can read in full) ?
I liked your entries on this non-controversial Pre-K topic but with so many grammatical errors in your recent entries I am sorry, I can't really understand which direction you are headed in.
The Pre-K 1\8 cent measure easily passed voter muster here so comparing this program to any other is useless. It is a done deal.
As is debating it here. Beating a dead horse.
The city tax is at its' maximum.
Mexican democrats can do no wrong within the city limits of San Antonio, yes.
Elected official or not.
Henry is living proof of this.
Remember-- Most of C-Span televised debates on the house and senate floor are skewed. It is evident that the debaters follow along party lines, much or maybe most of the time it has little to do with truth or what is needed by the population.
More hot air.
It is really rather silly to watch,and easily transparent, the aims and the dysfunctional mis-direction of our govt. by its' elected officials, televised for everyone to see.
It is like a watching a group of really bad actors dancing around the truth- never quite getting at it and saying anything but, in order to sidestep it. The sometimes very bad hairpieces really add humor to it.

Originally Posted by rynetwo

You must have missed the .gov at the end of the link.

I posted the report (than you can read in full) that the governemnt commissioned and I then quoted the summary result of that report.

You should edit the quote in your post so it makes sense.

[sleeptech210]

So how about that unneeded saws increase that just got approved today? I'm not gonna post anything to back up my claims on this board only cause those will only choose to still not believe its a sham. But here's a hint at incomplete program, how are the kids gonna get to school and home? That's just one issue the city is facing now

[WilGar]

Pre K SA Looks like another answer looking for a question. Still nothing but vagueness. I have on several levels asked what is the parental involvement with no answer.
--Number of required parent teacher conferences with mandatory attendance
---Parental participation whether in classroom cleanup or grounds maintenance
--Number of required events for parental involvement
---Literacy and training classes for parents to escape meeting guidelines for low income
---Number of slots for military children and criteria for selection
--Guidelines to English speaking of the spanish speakers

For those so enamored with the program, perhaps some CONCRETE answers versus the patronizing , "It Is Good for the Children, How Can You be Against It?"

Show Me!

Perhaps the light shown below by an educator, might provide some real insight.


Number of 'unknowns' in Pre-K 4 SA disturbing - San Antonio Express-News

[Bo]

IMO, it's time to stop campaigning to the mayor against Pre-K4SA. The voters have spoken. It's happening. The city is hiring people to work on it. School boards around the city are voting whether or not they will participate in it. If you live in SA and your school board hasn't voted yet, campaign to them.

[datacity]

Originally Posted by Bo

IMO, it's time to stop campaigning to the mayor against Pre-K4SA. The voters have spoken. It's happening. The city is hiring people to work on it. School boards around the city are voting whether or not they will participate in it. If you live in SA and your school board hasn't voted yet, campaign to them.

Based on the voter turnout (~40% of registered voters), just over 53% of voters cast a "yes" vote, so it passed. This translates to just a little over 21% of registered voters deciding the measure. Fair enough and another example of why one should vote (whatever your position) as it can make a difference, and by not voting, you give others a disproportionate amount of influence.

Still, this measure passed by just a few percentage points so there was no real mandate of support. Oh, and this result came after proponents of the program raised and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, versus the opponents spending a fraction of that amount. So yes, just like when people decry the influence of money in other national and state elections, one can potentially draw the same conclusion here. Of course if voters were less swayed by commercials and actually did their own homework, money wouldn't as great an influence, whoever is spending it.

At this point, the program is set; it will be in place for the next several years. It is imperative that whether you voted for or against this measure, you hold your officials accountable to make sure that the program is analyzed and its success or failure documented (by independent sources) so that voters get a true picture of it in a few years when it is time to evaluate it and again vote on it.

Given the structure of the corporation that will administer this program, I am not holding my breath for an unbiased analysis. Then again, I often think that many of the city's programs and services (e.g. CPS, SAWS, PreKforSA) are designed as a brilliant form of redistribution of property and sales tax. Of course, without the city publishing a report of city revenue and expenses by district, repeated over time, one cannot know for sure.

[saltwater heaven]

Originally Posted by Montirob

Without getting into the proven "disadvantaged kids are more expensive to teach" argument, the schools have been tasked (not asked) to do so much more than in the past. As a society, we have decided that they need to not only teach our kids, but feed them/ counsel them/ nurture them. I'm not saying that these parental responsibilites SHOULD be given away, but just noting that schools seem to serve a different purpose these days.

Regarding teacher pay, if teachers (full disclosure: I am married to one) had the same respect and support that they did decades ago, they would probably accept a lower salary. I know that the teachers at my kid's private school make less than they would at a public school; but they take it because they have more freedom to teach, smaller class sizes, and better relationships with parents.

a much different purpose. they are essentially babysitters nowadays. when i went to school, public education actually taught you stuff you needed to know. now, parents are only too happy to sue and helicopter over their kids that they refuse to raise properly.

Originally Posted by Bo

IMO, it's time to stop campaigning to the mayor against Pre-K4SA. The voters have spoken. It's happening. The city is hiring people to work on it. School boards around the city are voting whether or not they will participate in it. If you live in SA and your school board hasn't voted yet, campaign to them.

no, its not. if youre not happy with something, LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD. thats the only way change is made. if you just sit back and accept it, nothing gets done! why would someone want to do that?

this 'for the children' mentality really needs to go. there is NO proof that preK works. there is TONS of proof that throwing money at the education system DOES NOT WORK. graduation rates are either holding steady or are barely rising. the cost is not worth the result people.

btw, bo, as another poster pointed out, the voter turnout in favor was about 21%, so you cannot say 'the people have spoken'. quite the opposite, when only slightly over 1/5th of the population (in san antonio that is...) voted in favor of this mess.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by saltwater heaven

btw, bo, as another poster pointed out, the voter turnout in favor was about 21%, so you cannot say 'the people have spoken'. quite the opposite, when only slightly over 1/5th of the population (in san antonio that is...) voted in favor of this mess.

The turnout argument is meaningless under the law. No election has 100% participation. City elections in particular are notable for their low turnout. Do you also not recognize the authority of the mayor and council because only ~21% of eligible voters bothered to vote for them in the last city election? Some council districts have had less than 10% turnout since I've lived here. It happens.

So under the law, this is happening. If you want to stop it, file a lawsuit or tell your school board you don't want your district to participate. Haranguing the mayor does no good. This is not going to be the issue that prevents him from being re-elected.

I didn't want this thing, either and I strongly suspect NEISD, my school district, will not participate. If you don't want yours to, you need to tell your school board.

[huckster]

Social programs are created so quickly by Govt. there is no plan in place for implementation.
This has happened many times. Give them time to re-group. There will be implementation.
Sometimes one has to think that it is good that these small children are getting the
care and attention they need.
Only the people whom the program would benefit bothered to vote.
I taught my middle son Anth to read words by sight off of flash cards. When he was four years old.
The President mentioned a call nationally for just such a pre-k iniative in the last State of The Union Address just the other week.
I was very surprised to hear, that.

Originally Posted by WilGar

Pre K SA Looks like another answer looking for a question. Still nothing but vagueness. I have on several levels asked what is the parental involvement with no answer.
--Number of required parent teacher conferences with mandatory attendance
---Parental participation whether in classroom cleanup or grounds maintenance
--Number of required events for parental involvement
---Literacy and training classes for parents to escape meeting guidelines for low income
---Number of slots for military children and criteria for selection
--Guidelines to English speaking of the spanish speakers

For those so enamored with the program, perhaps some CONCRETE answers versus the patronizing , "It Is Good for the Children, How Can You be Against It?"

Show Me!

Perhaps the light shown below by an educator, might provide some real insight.


Number of 'unknowns' in Pre-K 4 SA disturbing - San Antonio Express-News