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  #1  
Old 05-12-2010, 04:19 PM
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Default You can safely blame Texas

As we have already discussed, Texas feels free to rewrite history to reflect their religious and political views, and get it taught to all public school kids in their state (and possibly more states).

Now, it seems that there is a widespread practice of designating drop outs and push outs as homeschool withdrawals.*
Quote:
More than 22,620 Texas secondary students who stopped showing up for class in 2008 were excluded from the state's dropout statistics because administrators said they were being home-schooled, according to Texas Education Agency figures.

While home-schooling's popularity has increased, the rate of growth concentrated in Texas' high school population is off the chart: It's nearly tripled in the last decade, including a 24 percent jump in a single year.

"That's just ridiculous," said Brian D. Ray, founder of the National Home Education Research Institute. "It doesn't sound very believable."
Oh, and just for Texas fun on a national scale, similar book cooking regarding drop out rates and test scores very well may have been the genesis of NCLB (This is the first I have seen regarding this, so sorry if it's old information to you)


Quote:
He (Pres. Bush) put educators on notice: there will be stiff penalties on any school that doesn't improve student performance.

He modeled his program on what's been called "the Houston miracle," the school system in Texas whose superintendent is now his Secretary of Education.


In February of this year, local TV station KHOU broke the story of Sharpstown High. It wasn't long before state officials stepped in to investigate. It turned out that the problem wasn't just Sharpstown High. Almost all of the schools the state looked at had reported false dropout rates. Westside High School has 2300 students but, like Sharpstown, it claimed it didn't have any dropouts. Yates High School said it only had 26 dropouts. In reality, it had 373 — more than a quarter of its 1400 students.

Here's how these Houston schools were cooking the books. Texas investigators say school officials were simply coming up with reasons — like transferring or getting a GED — why students shouldn't be listed as dropouts. Imagine Jerroll Tyler's surprise when he found out Sharpstown officials claimed he transferred to another school he'd never even heard of — a claim he believes they knew wasn't true.
Quote:
State officials acknowledge that in recent years, as standardized tests have become more difficult, there have been reports of school officials encouraging students to drop out rather than drag down test scores. The new rules are meant to deter this.

Students who quit high school, can't pass the TAKS or opt for a GED will all be considered dropouts, or "non-completers." To earn an "acceptable" rating from the state, 75 percent of a district's or a school's students must complete high school.

Those Taking GED to Count As Dropouts: The New Policy is Likely to Increase the Official Dropout Rate and Could Result in Lower Rankings for Many Schools in Texas - Education News - redOrbit
OlsonOnline: The whistle blower from Houston

The 'Texas Miracle' - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Everything grows big in Texas, including hubris.

*ETA: Looks like they started counting GED takers as dropouts in 2006, so they switched the false designation to homeschool is my bet.

Last edited by LadyShea; 05-12-2010 at 04:46 PM.
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  #2  
Old 05-12-2010, 06:10 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

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Texas' lax documentation and hands-off practices make it impossible to know how many of these students are actually being taught at home. It also opens the door to abuse of the designation, which could help school districts avoid the sanctions that come with high dropout rates, experts said.
LOL. No shit.

They shouldn't file them under dropout or home-schooled but "fate unknown" or something. I think it's libertard fucking insane that parents there are not only not required to follow any guidelines at all when "homeschooling", they aren't even required to send a letter to withdraw their children from public school, let alone fill out communist dictatorship paperwork like so (bloody murder!)
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Old 05-12-2010, 06:41 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

So much for the children are the future. These children are history already...
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Old 05-12-2010, 06:45 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

I just want to take this opportunity to point out what a first-class journalistic production that NOW is. I don't often get to watch the show, but when I do it's always a serious kick-in-the-ass type of reporting that has nearly gone extinct in this country.
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Old 05-12-2010, 06:46 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Quote:
I think it's libertard fucking insane that parents there are not only not required to follow any guidelines at all when "homeschooling"
That seems to be true, and many school officials who are abusing that "loophole". Before they changed the law in 2006 they used the GED designation to fudge the numbers.

If this audit turns up systematic abuse, as it did with the GED designation, I am sure you will see the homeschool notification law changed to prevent that abuse as they did the GED.

Then they will find another way to cheat, like holding students back in 9th grade to inflate 10th grade test scores, as mentioned in the 60 Minutes piece.

Last edited by LadyShea; 05-12-2010 at 07:08 PM. Reason: Verified TX homeschool laws and had to correct
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Old 05-12-2010, 07:37 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

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Originally Posted by Sauron View Post
I just want to take this opportunity to point out what a first-class journalistic production that NOW is.
We don't seem to get it here. :brooding:

Then again it's hard to say. Searching a TV schedule for 'now' isn't very productive.
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Old 05-12-2010, 07:39 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Quote:
Originally Posted by viscousmemories View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sauron View Post
I just want to take this opportunity to point out what a first-class journalistic production that NOW is.
We don't seem to get it here. :brooding:

Then again it's hard to say. Searching a TV schedule for 'now' isn't very productive.
You need to check your local PBS station

http://www.pbs.org/now/index.html
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Old 05-12-2010, 07:48 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

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Originally Posted by viscousmemories View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sauron View Post
I just want to take this opportunity to point out what a first-class journalistic production that NOW is.
We don't seem to get it here. :brooding:

Then again it's hard to say. Searching a TV schedule for 'now' isn't very productive.
It's online.
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Old 05-12-2010, 08:43 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyShea View Post
You need to check your local PBS station

NOW on PBS Classroom
Yeah I did that and came up empty. Hence my comment about searching the schedule for 'now' not being very productive.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sauron
It's online.
I noticed they had some videos online but I wasn't sure if they had all of them. At any rate I'd rather watch it on the TV if possible.
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  #10  
Old 05-12-2010, 09:29 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

And then there's this shit from Texas
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  #11  
Old 05-13-2010, 04:22 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Jesus Fuck!

This is a cell phone video. Apparently the school said the room's camera didn't show anything :rolleyes:

Last edited by LadyShea; 05-13-2010 at 04:34 PM.
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  #12  
Old 05-14-2010, 02:12 AM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Good lord, do you have a "Texas Outrage" Google news alert set up or something?
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Old 05-14-2010, 02:29 AM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Well, a Google News search for 'Texas' turned up mostly sports, but there was an article about someone being executed and another about a lawyer who shot at a Census worker. Farther down was one about a company accused of scamming people and a lot more sports.
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Old 05-14-2010, 02:35 AM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

I had my final in Govt. tonight, and my prof (who works in the courts and has apparently met the Census shooter a number of times) went on and on about what a nutbar she is. He even read her rap sheet to us. She's apparently an atty. who typically represents herself. She's also out on bond.
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  #15  
Old 05-14-2010, 03:32 AM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

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Originally Posted by viscousmemories View Post
Good lord, do you have a "Texas Outrage" Google news alert set up or something?
Is that not insane? Did you see her crouch down? That lady has thrown down a time or two!

Anyway, all mine are education related. The other *religious nut homeschoolers* link me.

* they are secular but I love wei
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Old 05-17-2010, 11:42 AM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Texas school board rewrites history.

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The board is to vote on a sweeping purge of alleged liberal bias in Texas school textbooks in favour of what Dunbar says really matters: a belief in America as a nation chosen by God as a beacon to the world, and free enterprise as the cornerstone of liberty and democracy.

"We are fighting for our children's education and our nation's future," Dunbar said. "In Texas we have certain statutory obligations to promote patriotism and to promote the free enterprise system. There seems to have been a move away from a patriotic ideology. There seems to be a denial that this was a nation founded under God. We had to go back and make some corrections."

Those corrections have prompted a blizzard of accusations of rewriting history and indoctrinating children by promoting rightwing views on religion, economics and guns while diminishing the science of evolution, the civil rights movement and the horrors of slavery.

Several changes include sidelining Thomas Jefferson, who favoured separation of church and state, while introducing a new focus on the "significant contributions" of pro-slavery Confederate leaders during the civil war.
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  #17  
Old 05-17-2010, 04:34 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

I wasn’t aware "secession" from the US was a patriotic act that we need to teach our children, learn something every day.

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Old 05-17-2010, 05:07 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

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"In Texas we have certain statutory obligations to promote patriotism and to promote the free enterprise system.
I would love to know what section of the US or Texas code contains the statute(s) which he thinks so oblige him. Anyone have any ideas?
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Old 05-17-2010, 05:32 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

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AUSTIN, Texas – With the state facing a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has spent almost $600,000 in public money during the past two years to live in a sprawling rental home in the hills above the capital, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

It costs more than $10,000 a month in rent, utilities and upkeep to house Perry in a five-bedroom, seven-bath mansion that has pecan-wood floors, a gourmet kitchen and three dining rooms. Perry has also spent $130,000 in campaign donations to throw parties, buy food and drink, and pay for cable TV and a host of other services since he moved in, the records show.
Gov. Perry's temporary digs costs Texas big bucks - Yahoo! News
The governors mansion is under repair, so TX residents are paying for a rental. 10K a month!

But he's cutting back ya know, he's tightening his own belt!
Quote:
The governor's staff said Perry, who earns $150,000 a year as governor, has cut back on some luxuries in response to the state's tight finances. Spokeswoman Allison Castle said he has just one housekeeper, one full-time chef — although a second chef works part time — and a mansion administrator who left and was not replaced. Along with a steward, the salaries for the five mansion employees cost taxpayers $195,770 a year, records show. The governor's security detail occupies the guest house.
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Old 06-17-2010, 05:29 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Joe Barton doesn't want to live a country where he is alone in sucking BP's dick. GTFO

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont....b0aaffc4.html
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Old 06-17-2010, 09:44 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

I'm not going to defend Joe Barton, or any other representative from my state. But this whole "oil cleanup account" is a big PR piece of crap.

BP has a metric crap load of money. They do about 4.5-6 billion in profit per quarter. They have something like 600 billion in total assets and had 30 billion in cash and liquid assets on hand. There is absolutely no point to this whole 'cleanup fund'. The money would get extracted from them regardless without this whole piece of crap.

Going after them to form this account is just politics, as is calling it a shakedown. It's just politicians trying to look useful in the face of a crisis that can't be immediately controlled.

Nothing useful is going to happen until they get relief wells drilled, and by that time I expect this thing will have oiled up most of our coastal regions.
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Old 06-17-2010, 09:52 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

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There is absolutely no point to this whole 'cleanup fund'. The money would get extracted from them regardless without this whole piece of crap.
Lagnath, how well did that work with the Valdez spill?

In my opinion, that money needs to be in escrow and adminned by a third party to prevent BP crying poor, failing to pay claims, failing to pay claims timely, suddenly changing gears and deciding that the previous liability caps should be enforced, or forcing every claim to go to litigation (all real possibilities).

I think BP has done as good as they can, and I think they intend to pay that out as of today...but business is business and in business a promise just don't cut it.

I live in an affected coastal region, and so far it is a clusterfuck regarding clean up and claims payments.
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  #23  
Old 06-17-2010, 10:18 PM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Yeah, I was going to say, one of the benefits of a relief fund is that the affected people might actually see the money in time for it to address their problems, rather than at the ass-end of a protracted litigation after their lives have been ruined.
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  #24  
Old 06-18-2010, 05:58 AM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lagnath View Post
I'm not going to defend Joe Barton, or any other representative from my state. But this whole "oil cleanup account" is a big PR piece of crap.

BP has a metric crap load of money. They do about 4.5-6 billion in profit per quarter. They have something like 600 billion in total assets and had 30 billion in cash and liquid assets on hand. There is absolutely no point to this whole 'cleanup fund'. The money would get extracted from them regardless without this whole piece of crap.

Going after them to form this account is just politics, as is calling it a shakedown. It's just politicians trying to look useful in the face of a crisis that can't be immediately controlled.

Nothing useful is going to happen until they get relief wells drilled, and by that time I expect this thing will have oiled up most of our coastal regions.
Drilling relief wells, killing the well, recovering oil and cleaning up and compensating out-of-work offshore drilling platform workings are not what this fund is for. BP is still on the hook for those costs in addition to this. This fund is supposed be for mitigating damages to individuals, businesses, and I suppose local governments caused by the spill.
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  #25  
Old 06-18-2010, 06:10 AM
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Default Re: You can safely blame Texas

Local governments have been having a hell of time getting funds for their own clean up work, some of which they are better prepared to do than BP is. What does BP know about cleaning beaches and marshes and birds? For one example that still kills me, our mayor had to explain to BP that the sand sifting machines we already use are faster than guys with shovels and so we should have more of them. BP didn't know they existed! Some of the LA Parish Presidents have found technologies and want to use them, but can't get the authorization from BP....one ordered something and reqd it out, and said he would ask for forgiveness later if he followed the wrong procedure.

Our fisherman have gotten 5000, and that's it. That's a single good day on the water and that,s what they've gotten for the month and half they've been docked.

If adminned efficiently, by an objective third party firm, this process should work really well.
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