What exactly does this mean for HISD?

HISD stats are pretty bad. About 195K students and 79% considered economically disadvantaged. HISD spends about $11K per student. The % of kids grades 3-8 passing STAAR test is below the state average which is also kinda crappy. 48% in HISD pass Math while state average is 61% 48% in HISD pass Science while state average is 63% Despite their numbers, somehow 84% graduation rate. Unless the kids turned it around as they got older, a decent chunk of that 84% are graduating At elementary level Math and Science.

As for improving the actual performance of students and providing resources to help, there isn't much the state can do, as country said above.

The positive that can come from this is rooting out the entrenched district leadership and replacing everybody. When an organization gets this bad, it's the culture of the entire organization that needs to be fixed, and that can only happen from the top down. That is the hope.

HISD's revenue is $2.1B. 1.9B from local tax collections and $150M from the state. Remainder from federal and other. HISD makes about $200M in Robinhood payments.

I wonder if there's been a study since Robinhood the effect on Urban school districts. The list of top Robinhood payment districts are all Urban and looking at a handful, their scores are also lower than the state average. School finance formula is super complicated, does it account for cost of living?

the solution to HISD may be the null set

i.e. there is no solution

Burn it down?

DallasAg 94 said:

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There are several problems.

Financially, they have lost 10% of their students. That means some schools don't have the enrollment.

Charter schools, Private schools, and families moving to the Burbs. Texas as a State has lost students.

You'd think with the enormous increase in property taxes that schools would just be that much better off, but I think some of that Surplus you are hearing about is money the state is saving because of the lower enrollment.

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I generally distrust higher echelon government swooping in to fix local deficiencies.

The first move shouldn't be an attempt to reform of a monopolized failing education bureaucracy (HISD) but to immediately free parents from it with vouchers and breaking apart the entity.

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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The solution is to stop illegal immigration. That's pretty much it. It's the solution to many many of this state and country's problems.

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Possibly from a numbers standpoint. But generally it isn't the immigrant children that are the largest problem

Quote:

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I don't think it really means anything. The State doesn't have a magic pill to make students with no home support perform better…

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Think of all the HISD students who DO have the support they need. The state of Texas has just broken the plantation''s chains that have enslaved them for decades.

What exactly does it mean?

Well, I'm not familiar with HISD per se, but if it is like another large district that I am familiar with, I'd bet corruption is the norm. Hopefully, the state taking it over will reduce or eliminate that.

Then, there are things that are not exactly corrupt but are laughable examples of mismanagement. I signed in to officiate a varsity football game the first week of the season last fall at one of the district's large venues (all Friday games are at one of their main venues, most of which have a basketball arena attached). There was a volleyball match going on inside. When I signed in, there were THREE so-called admins sitting there doing nothing but handling the officials. None of the three were our actual game admin, they were just there handling the paperwork. Granted there were 2 sets of officials -- 5 for football and 2 for volleyball -- but seriously, how hard could that have been. 3 weren't needed. Hell, one wasn't even needed other than perhaps to handle something that might come up. One certainly wasn't needed to sit around and show us how to do something we either already knew how to do or was very simple.

Added to that, the district pays by an electronic system where everything is already pre-printed out. All that needs to be done is we check off our name to confirm that we're there. THEN the system takes 2-3 days to electronically send us our fees. They still have to get everything approved, which blows my mind.

Was there a game? Yes. Was the official present to work the game? Yes. OK, you owe the money. No approval necessary. If the first two conditions were met, nothing else needs to be done. This is the kind of crap that permeates the entire district, so magnify like $300 time a bunch of thousands and you get the waste involved.

Dan Scott said:

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HISD's revenue is $2.1B. 1.9B from local tax collections and $150M from the state. Remainder from federal and other. HISD makes about $200M in Robinhood payments.

I wonder if there's been a study since Robinhood the effect on Urban school districts. The list of top Robinhood payment districts are all Urban and looking at a handful, their scores are also lower than the state average. School finance formula is super complicated, does it account for cost of living?

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Plenty of studies and stats for the last 30+ years that show money per student has ZERO impact on performance no matter how much money is spent.


Poor charter school in urban areas can and do have very good outcomes even though many have much lower money per student than the other public schools.

What in the world is wrong with Houston? [rhetorical]

Crime rates higher than Chicago. Now HISD has failed.

Just kind of wild to me that they are that much worse than our other blue cities in Texas.

They spend frivolous money without taking care of actual needs.

At least 1 high school had 9 people with principal in the title. That's easily north of a million in salary for 1 school for people who won't teach 1 class.

City of Houston has basically ALWAYS been a cesspool.

You used to be able to count on Harris County to keep them in check, but the county government has become cesspool too.

Vouchers.

DrEvazanPhD said:

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Ol_Ag_02 said:

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The solution is to stop illegal immigration. That's pretty much it. It's the solution to many many of this state and country's problems.

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Possibly from a numbers standpoint. But generally it isn't the immigrant children that are the largest problem

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Who said anything about immigrant children? Perhaps you're confusing immigration with illegal immigration.

samurai_science said:

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Dan Scott said:

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HISD's revenue is $2.1B. 1.9B from local tax collections and $150M from the state. Remainder from federal and other. HISD makes about $200M in Robinhood payments.

I wonder if there's been a study since Robinhood the effect on Urban school districts. The list of top Robinhood payment districts are all Urban and looking at a handful, their scores are also lower than the state average. School finance formula is super complicated, does it account for cost of living?

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Plenty of studies and stats for the last 30+ years that show money per student has ZERO impact on performance no matter how much money is spent.


Poor charter school in urban areas can and do have very good outcomes even though many have much lower money per student than the other public schools.

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Show the studies...

How about defining the problems and maybe offering programs that would train folks to be employed in the myriad of blue color opportunities.

Maybe develop a 5 year high school program that is designed to assist and monitor kids in their 5th year of HS.

Maybe pay them a stipend for freshman and sophomore students and a hourly rate junior and senior years.

This would be only for at risk, inner city schools that have bad statistic. I would say you fund most of it by reduce any non essential costs and do away with courses that do not teach core fundamentals of STEM.

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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The solution is to stop illegal immigration. That's pretty much it. It's the solution to many many of this state and country's problems.

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This right here!

There is a simple explanation for why public schools have been maxed out! The demographic statistics don't lie!


Both parties caused this in Texas!

Cant Think of a Name said:

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City of Houston has basically ALWAYS been a cesspool.

You used to be able to count on Harris County to keep them in check, but the county government has become cesspool too.

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This. Good people are moving out and what is left behind won't be improving anything. Several parts of Houston are going to be like Detroit.

The State says Texas A&M should resemble the demographic makeup of Texas. But when the largest ISD in the state is actually made up of its demographics, run by those who are part of the demographics, and have families, or lack thereof, that mirror the demographics, the State says whoa whoa whoa…..we gotta change this. Hypocrisy at its best. HISD is failing because it 100% resembles the citizenry it serves. It is proof that all demographics value the family unit, education, and society differently. And the results speak for themselves. It will never perform better unless the family unit can somehow be restored and parents start to take responsibility for their kids and actively engage in their education. No amount of money or state over site will change that.

School vouchers would have this fixed in less than 5 years. Do you think inner-city parents want their kids in inner-city public schools? Give parents an option.

Ol Rock said:

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School vouchers would have this fixed in less than 5 years. Do you think inner-city parents want their kids in inner-city public schools? Give parents an option.

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No, it won't fix the problem. Here is why

* No mobility to go to a private school. How are these inner city kids going to get to the school? Research also show that private schools raise their prices once vouchers are brought in to play. These same kids already have options to go to another school district based on current law and don't move because they can't get to the school.

* Lack of accountability for private schools to change outcomes as they do not have to follow government regulations.

* When vouchers or school choice have been implemented, 80% voucher money is used by those already in a private school because they CHOOSE who they let in.

* That fact alone makes vouchers a tax incentive for the rich that leads to a decrease in public funding and was basically said as such here: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/14/texas-education-agency-vouchers/


* School choice in Ohio and Louisiana had a HIGHER negative impact on students than did the COVID 19 Pandemic when kids did not go to school for almost a year. As math and reading scores decline.
https://www.nola.com/news/education/louisiana-voucher-students-did-worse-at-new-schools-study-says/article_016f52f2-9271-5624-9494-c24a53c87323.html


The bill as written allows parents to use the $10,000 dollars however they want. This has lead to people buying trampolines and $400 blenders in the name of education. A school can't get away with that.

Here is an interesting dialogue about how that money will be used....but it's ok because of "freedom."

I am being told the original has been deleted. Just in case, here is the audio that I saved. pic.twitter.com/IpmKRLe6rN

— Texans4PublicEd (@Texans4E) March 4, 2023

At some point, logic and reason needs to come into play.

country said:

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I don't think it really means anything. The State doesn't have a magic pill to make students with no home support perform better and unless they bring more tax payer money they don't have a way to hire more people to spend more time with all those students. So the only string they have to pull is to manipulate the scores to make it look like the government did better than the local workforce having to deal with that **** show every day. Public education has a lot of problems, but the biggest is lack of any kind of home life or support at home for a huge number of students.

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To be fair, public education is one reason there is a lack of home life and support.

Richierich2323 said:

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Ol Rock said:

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School vouchers would have this fixed in less than 5 years. Do you think inner-city parents want their kids in inner-city public schools? Give parents an option.

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No, it won't fix the problem. Here is why

* No mobility to go to a private school. How are these inner city kids going to get to the school? Research also show that private schools raise their prices once vouchers are brought in to play. These same kids already have options to go to another school district based on current law and don't move because they can't get to the school.

The free market will open many opportunities

* Lack of accountability for private schools to change outcomes as they do not have to follow government regulations.

Lack of regulations is why private and home education excels. The schools are accountable to parents, not the government.

* When vouchers or school choice have been implemented, 80% voucher money is used by those already in a private school because they CHOOSE who they let in.

I don't see a problem with people getting money back for their child's education as opposed to wasting it on a government school.

* That fact alone makes vouchers a tax incentive for the rich that leads to a decrease in public funding and was basically said as such here: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/14/texas-education-agency-vouchers/

Every dollar taken from a government school leads to better educational outcomes and more freedom.

* School choice in Ohio and Louisiana had a HIGHER negative impact on students than did the COVID 19 Pandemic when kids did not go to school for almost a year. As math and reading scores decline.
https://www.nola.com/news/education/louisiana-voucher-students-did-worse-at-new-schools-study-says/article_016f52f2-9271-5624-9494-c24a53c87323.html

Government education in America is among the worst in the world and continually fails our children. Private schools and home schools are shown to give better education than government schools.

The bill as written allows parents to use the $10,000 dollars however they want. This has lead to people buying trampolines and $400 blenders in the name of education. A school can't get away with that.

Government schools don't pay for playgrounds or food prep? The idea that government schools 'own' taxpayer dollars is maddening.

Here is an interesting dialogue about how that money will be used....but it's ok because of "freedom."

I am being told the original has been deleted. Just in case, here is the audio that I saved. pic.twitter.com/IpmKRLe6rN

— Texans4PublicEd (@Texans4E) March 4, 2023

At some point, logic and reason needs to come into play.

Logic says that taxpayers deserve their money back. Government monopolies do nothing but indoctrinate our children and give them lackluster educations.

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Why the state isn't any better!