moving to houston Texas..ur input pls.

[adam]

I really can't agree about the school systems enstg8er. Texas is going through some terrible times in the education department and it makes getting a quality education for your children very tough. My wife is an elementary school teacher and she has worked in two districts in Austin, one of which was the #1 district, one in Houston which was very poor and low scoring, and currently works in the top school district in San Antonio.

Its not enough to just move into a nice neighborhood, all the school districts in the abovementioned cities have serious population control problems and so you have to get on a waiting list for the school of your choice. When I say waiting list I don't mean a couple months I mean like 5 years in the top districts. If you don't start when they are in diapers you may be out of luck. They also keep redrawing the district lines every year so you may end up 1) going to a considerably worse school than you planned and 2) have to commute a long way to get there. Plus Texas still uses a form of Robin Hood so the rich districts have to subsidize the poor ones, so there is a normalizing effect.

The education budget in Texas is flat out 0 and the Legislature hasn't been able to come up with a plan after like what...7 sessions? They have to spend all their money putting up new schools to accommodate the growing population and there is no money for materials in the existing schools. Like I said, my wife is currently teaching at the #1 district in San Antonio and her supplies budget is $50 for the whole year. Every year she spends it all just decorating the room before school even starts and then has to pay for all the pencils and paper and crap herself. Its like that with all the teachers.

Sorry...I have to hear this stuff everyday from my wife so I wanted others to share in my pain.

[lordsmurf]

Sorry...I have to hear this stuff everyday from my wife so I wanted others to share in my pain.

[enstg8er]

having not lived in tx for 14 years and not attended school there since '78 i can't reasonably argue with you adam. you have much closer involvement and insight than me.

when i attended our school was nationally aclaimed. it was located across the street from nasa. the vast majority of students came from families that worked in the aerospace industry.
from wiki-

The culture in this area is still separate from the general Houstonian culture. The community is near NASA's Johnson Space Center, as well as other major aerospace companies including Boeing and Lockheed-Martin. Clear Lake City is a very diverse area, and has one of the largest Asian American communities in the city of Houston. The University of Houston-Clear Lake is also located within the community. Clear Lake City and its neighbors have a high concentration of engineers due to both NASA and the local petro-chemical industries.

Clear Lake City is named for a lake south of the Johnson Space Center that separates Harris County from Galveston County and connects Clear Creek to Galveston Bay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Lake_City%2C_Texas

i somewhat remember the robin hood deal. mid to late 80's, i think. the premise was to equalize school funding by redistributing property taxes. the clear lake (and i suspect others as well) was to slash property taxes.

high taxes were employed as a tactic to keep lower income people out of the area and thus protect property values. a side bonus was lavishly funded schools and facilities. when a good portion of the revenue was going to be redistributed to other schools the taxes were cut. additionaly, by the time this had occurred, development had raised property values beyond what the tax rate could.

my only current connection are my sisters. one works in houston texans owner, bob mcnair's law firm. she lives in pearland. she is very happy with the schools.

the other works in relocation and job placement. she keeps an eye on the direction of schools in the area.

on the subject of waiting lists, i've never heard of that. i don't know of anyone that encountered it. you went where you were zoned. perhaps this is the growing trend?

sorry to hear about your wife's experiences. i hope this isn't reaching all schools. and i hope things improve for your wife.......

[adam]

I'm very familiar with that area, my dad lives about 5 mins from there. Yes those are some nice schools.

on the subject of waiting lists, i've never heard of that. i don't know of anyone that encountered it. you went where you were zoned. perhaps this is the growing trend?

There are 56 elementary schools in my wife's district alone and over the next 5 years that number will almost double. (Its the northernmost district and city is expanding in that direction...innercity districts aren't growing this fast) In any given location you might live within the district, there are about 10 different schools you may be zoned for. You have your pick as long as there are openings but in most cases there aren't.

There's this one family whose older daughter goes to my wife's school because she is grandfathered. They moved the district lines but she was already attending so she could stay. But they wanted their younger daughter to also go there so they moved...and that was their only reason for moving. They got her on the waiting list 2 years in advance. Then they redrew the district lines again so she can't go. Every morning they have to drive one kid to one school and the other to what they, and most people, would consider a lower quality school.

[greymalkin]

I'm currently attending University of Houston at Clear Lake. It's shut down today and tomorrow because of Rita. Actually All of Clear Lake and galveston is being emptied out tonight..possibly baytown/mont belvieu as well..so i may be getting that vacation i've been wanting

[enstg8er]

i went to school across the street. wonderful area. my family is leaving. good luck, hope all goes well...........

[JohnnyCNote]

You may want to wait and see if there's anything left after Rita strikes....

[MOVIEGEEK]

You may want to wait and see if there's anything left after Rita strikes....

My money is on it hitting Corpus Christi around Friday at midnight,they say Rita is the third most powerful hurricane on record.
This will not be good for Texas.

[Faustus]

My family in houston is coming down right now. Its normally a 3 to 4 hour drive. Its taking 15 hours because of all the other people leaving just in case.

Up side is knowing family is safe. Downside is Sister, her husband, and her 3 kids at our house while I'm trying to sleep during the day.

[adam]

Galveston is my hometown. The way its looking, there might not be anything left. They keep showing this animation on tv showing how the island is going to be completely submerged. My mom's home is on the southwest side of the island where there is no seawall and she's about 5 mins from the beach.

[JohnnyCNote]

They were talking about a 38 foot storm surge! That would make Katrina look tame. We got a lot of rain from the outer feeder bands today in Jacksonville, FL, while in Sarasota, 200 miles closer, it was nice and breezy (according to someone I talked to from there today).....

[zoobie]

Anyplace within 100 miles of the gulf is usually over 90% humidity...I remember taking a shower and going outside for 20 minutes. It was like I never took a shower.

[greymalkin]

yep..if you step outside you're sweaty in no time. well i'm back home and except for a few poor shingles everything is good at my place. Beaumont got slammed though..it was creepy driving through there on the way home. dark dark dark except for the glow of police cars at every exit.