Why is AISD shrinking? (Austin, Andrews: 2014, houses, neighborhood)

[cheeva]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Low-income at-risk children are not leaving Austin, though. They are leaving for charters or not going to school at all. Charters give out incentives, like gift cards and food to get their enrollment up. They take kids from the local public schools and get them into charters taking away local tax dollars, making things even more difficult for urban districts. This has been going on since I moved here in 2015. I live within a stone's throw of an AISD elementary. There is a charter a mile away. I have worked with one family in particular who feels more supported at the charter. And we're working with them to get them transferred.

Also worth noting, even though Austin is very property tax rich, the district sends more than 50% of their tax dollars back to the state due to state funding purposes. I spoke to a social worker at the infamous school district in the valley that gets recapture dollars and built a water park. He was very quick to explain that it was more of an aquatic center than a water park, but we all know it's a water park. But that's more state politics than a local issue.

The district had a bump of a few thousand students last year. I'm not sure what the reason behind that was. There might be an article out there somewhere. ALL districts lost kids this year. Due to virtual learning, family demands (especially parents needing to move and needing older kids to watch the younger kids because school was virtual) many students get withdrawn. They're still there. They're just not going to school. This is not an AISD issue. This is a national issue. This is an issue I am passionate about and I apologize if I get snotty about it.

OP might also want to look at the metro district boundaries and note that Pfulgervile ISD literally intersects an apartment complex up north. And that school I live a stone throws from...well, I'm in the Del Valle School district even though I hear the bell ring in the morning and can walk there in five minutes from my back door. If you read threads you'll also see most people want affordable and "good schools" when they relocate. That's why Leander is always the area that pops up as desirable. That does not mean that AISD schools are "bad." They all have value and school is a very individual issue for families. FWIW, one of the top high schools in the state, Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy, is an AISD school.

So why doesn't AISD offer a product that can compete with charters schools?

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by cheeva

So why doesn't AISD offer a product that can compete with charters schools?

PRODUCT?! WTF is PRODUCT?! Really?! They have no money for PRODUCT. These are children. It’s not a business. School districts are also public, not private and subject to the legislature. Charters are businesses and some (many) fail. Other close and leave their students to navigate themselves back to PUBLIC schools. Charter CEOs make millions a year profiting off low income families.

[cheeva]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

PRODUCT?! WTF is PRODUCT?! Really?! They have no money for PRODUCT. These are children. It’s not a business. School districts are also public, not private and subject to the legislature. Charters are businesses and some (many) fail. Other close and leave their students to navigate themselves back to PUBLIC schools. Charter CEOs make millions a year profiting off low income families.

"SERVICE" There, better?

Also, you take exception at the CEOs making millions, but also say they do a better job...so..



okay.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by cheeva

So why doesn't AISD offer a product that can compete with charters schools?

Charter schools get off quite a bit easy and get to tailor their enrollment (albeit very covertly). What charter schools offer busing? Do they offer the same free meal programs and after-school care? Do they HAVE to accept everyone who wants to go to their school if they live at a 'routed' address? There are a ton of ways that charter schools filter out the 'less desirable', that is just a few. They can selectively rid them selves of 'problematic' students in ways that a public school cannot.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by cheeva

"SERVICE" There, better?

Also, you take exception at the CEOs making millions, but also say they do a better job...so..



okay.

NEVER said they do a better job. As the person above said, there’s ways charters “work.”

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by cheeva

So why doesn't AISD offer a product that can compete with charters schools?

It's a complicated issue. First, the state needs to make school funding a priority. They don't. They also need to be supportive of teachers. They aren't. But that's not really unique to Austin.

The problem is that when you have kids that are economically disadvantaged, it's damn near impossible for even the best school to fill in the gaps. A kid who doesn't have internet at home is not going to be able to keep up. Same with kids whose electricity has been turned off. A kid whose parents work a combined 4 jobs are not going to have someone there to help them when they don't understand something. Furthermore, those kids are also more likely to be responsible for caring for their siblings, leaving very little time to devote to school. They can't go in early or stay late for extra help because they rely on the school bus for transportation and they don't run early or late routes. And then there's still the having to take care of siblings thing too that prevents that.

There are kids who are hungry, who are tired because they sleep on a floor or on the couch and get very little sleep. These kids just can not physically concentrate at school. You have kids whose parents are functionally illiterate or don't speak English. Those parents can't help their kids with reading homework, and they fall farther and farther behind.

Compare that to a financially secure household with two educated parents. Where there is a reliable internet connection and the kid has been using computers since they were toddlers. They can go for extra help when it's needed because mom and/or dad have a car and the time to be able to get them to and from that resource. They may even be able to afford a tutor. They benefit just from hearing people speak English at a higher level from the day they are born. That alone has a huge impact on vocabulary and literacy. They are never hungry and their food is, for the most part, nutritious. They have a comfortable bed to sleep in and get adequate rest. They can devote time to schoolwork and probably even have a quiet comfortable place to do so.

It is so much more complicated than people realize and goes far beyond the school system. FWIW, I have a degree in Early Childhood Development and worked in education for years.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by cheeva

https://www.kxan.com/news/education/...lment-numbers/

The district anticipates that there will be 3000 less kids this fall compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Average price in areas with growing student populations:

Steiner: 632K
Westlake Hills: 1.2M
78733 (Travis county): 1.36M
Dripping Springs: 466K
Avery Ranch: 660K
Lakeway 665K
Beecaves 610K
Barton Creek: 696K

Then we have:
Austin: 505K

It's not the home prices. Is there something about AISD or the City of Austin that is not attractive to families?

You cant look at absolute prices, look at $/sq ft. Austin is much higher than most of those areas (not westlake hills).

Austin schools are bad because instead of focusing on education they are focused on social justice. They especially want to teach to the "whole child" instead of making sure that poor kids have the basics and can do well on the standardized tests.

If the poor kids could do well on the standardized tests, then more people would go to those schools.

[verybadgnome]

I have a friend who does substitute teaching, but now avoids AISD for Eanes. He said his role in AISD was more of a babysitter than a teacher. He stated the kids know they can't get into any real trouble so there is no disincentive to acting out.

I had another friend who did substitute teaching at Northeast H.S. until the day some kids stole his clothes (he changed clothes after biking to work). Got in an argument with faculty over this event and was banned from teaching there again. He was fine with that!

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

I have a friend who does substitute teaching, but now avoids AISD for Eanes. He said his role in AISD was more of a babysitter than a teacher. He stated the kids know they can't get into any real trouble so there is no disincentive to acting out.

I had another friend who did substitute teaching at Northeast H.S. until the day some kids stole his clothes (he changed clothes after biking to work). Got in an argument with faculty over this event and was banned from teaching there again. He was fine with that!

Funny, I guess things have changed. I subbed all over Austin (including Eanes) many years ago, and it was the kids at Eanes that were problematic. They knew they couldn't really get in trouble because money and influence were on their (parents) side.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Austin97

You cant look at absolute prices, look at $/sq ft. Austin is much higher than most of those areas (not westlake hills).

Austin schools are bad because instead of focusing on education they are focused on social justice. They especially want to teach to the "whole child" instead of making sure that poor kids have the basics and can do well on the standardized tests.

If the poor kids could do well on the standardized tests, then more people would go to those schools.

If you don’t look at the “whole child” they won’t do well. Research backs up this point of view.