Education, politics, and anything else that catches my attention.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
High School Football Game Prank
OK, this prank was entertaining, but do you know what really caught my eye? Check out that high school football stadium!
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
hahahahahahahah thats funny. but ya....it sucks we cant have a stadiom like that in california. the best high school stadium i know of is cordova high. but wait, that probably means they have better funding. but, how could they have better funding that rio, when rio has MUCH higher academics? the only explination i can think of, is because their football team is one of the best in NorCal. so, once again, kinda proves that funding is based on sports by a big chunk.
There are places where football--high school football--is more important than it is here in sunny California. Like pretty much anywhere in the US.
And I don't know how many high schools you've been to outside California, but I most I've seen are palaces compared to those in the San Juan school district. Rio and Del Campo were built of plywood, aluminum, and glass in the early 60s. They were built to last...30 years. And they did, mostly. But we're 45 years into it now.
There are places where they build new schools to replace worn-out ones. Near as I can tell, that hasn't happened--ever--in San Juan. Nor do I see that happening anytime soon.
One of the most interesting political aspects of what was termed the "Robin Hood" funding system of Texas schools was that the alleged "poor" districts had complete control of how they spent the millions taken from other districts. As you drive through small Texas towns, ones that have hardly any commercial tax base to speak of, you will be dazzled by stadiums that were better than the one at the university my kids attend. Football is also the reason that small district resist consolidation, which would make things more reasonable economically and avoid the situations where you have AP teachers for a class of four kids. It was bad thirty years ago when I was in school, now it has just gotten totally ridiculous. And parents are the driving force. Plus the fact that most administrators in the upper levels seem to be former coaches. Talk about trying to fight a dragon, that is a hierarchy nobody can tumble.
e Stadium. "Crew Stadium is a 22,555 seat facility, home to the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, as well as a target destination for other marquee sports and entertainment events including US Soccer matches, NFL exhibitions, NCAA soccer, and concerts. Crew Stadium has hosted various high school football games since its opening in 1999, including the annual Grange Insurance Ohio North-South Classic and the Inaugural Ohio vs. USA Kirk Herbstreit Challenge, as well as other high school regular season and playoff games."
Rhymes with Right...I think your district at some point was on the recieving end of the aforementioned funds. I had a friend who was on a Prominently Named Houston Suburb's school board. Since that area didn't have zoning, but deed restrictions, on paper they had NO INDUSTRIAL BASE and thus were labeled poor. They got money, which she assured me was used for new tennis courts and band uniforms. In that same school year, the majority minority schools my kids attended had at least six portables at every school. There's still bad blood over this issue. And I still think it is incredible how in the same breath parents will condemn the academics but praise the athletics' programs and not stop to ask why.
In our case, everything was built through bond issues approved by the voters of the district, to be paid for with a tax increase. It also included as much money for academic facilities as it did for athletic facilities.
And since the previous football stadium dated back to the FDR administration and the district now has two large high schools with a combined enrollment of over 5000 kids rather than one with fewer than 700 at the time the earlier facility was built, it was about time for the old location to be replaced (it was renovated and serves as the venue for district soccer teams as well as middle school football games).
By the way, most of our schools still have some portables -- but that is because of a continuously rising enrollment that has seen us open at least one new school every year that I have been in the district. Our high school that opened in 1999 (located just to the northeast of the stadium) is undergoing its SECOND expansion project during its brief history.
We are in the transition phase of becoming an "inner ring" suburb with all the gang and minority and urban issues that implies. But even through more than 60% of our population is minority and much of that Hispanic, we are still on the roles of the tax gods as "rich" and send millions to Austin for redistribution every single year. And we pay for all those programs that the feds mandate but don't fund like ESL, Special Ed and other programs. I have a cousin in a Small Far West Texas College Town who teachers AP Biology to a class of five. I can't see that as cost effictive when the five districts in the area could consolidate and offer so much more academically. But God help us if these towns lose their football teams....
12 comments:
hahahahahahahah thats funny. but ya....it sucks we cant have a stadiom like that in california. the best high school stadium i know of is cordova high. but wait, that probably means they have better funding. but, how could they have better funding that rio, when rio has MUCH higher academics? the only explination i can think of, is because their football team is one of the best in NorCal. so, once again, kinda proves that funding is based on sports by a big chunk.
Sheesh. There were 89 students in my graduating class.
There are places where football--high school football--is more important than it is here in sunny California. Like pretty much anywhere in the US.
And I don't know how many high schools you've been to outside California, but I most I've seen are palaces compared to those in the San Juan school district. Rio and Del Campo were built of plywood, aluminum, and glass in the early 60s. They were built to last...30 years. And they did, mostly. But we're 45 years into it now.
There are places where they build new schools to replace worn-out ones. Near as I can tell, that hasn't happened--ever--in San Juan. Nor do I see that happening anytime soon.
You call that a football stadium? In Texas that would be the JV practice field.
One of the most interesting political aspects of what was termed the "Robin Hood" funding system of Texas schools was that the alleged "poor" districts had complete control of how they spent the millions taken from other districts. As you drive through small Texas towns, ones that have hardly any commercial tax base to speak of, you will be dazzled by stadiums that were better than the one at the university my kids attend. Football is also the reason that small district resist consolidation, which would make things more reasonable economically and avoid the situations where you have AP teachers for a class of four kids. It was bad thirty years ago when I was in school, now it has just gotten totally ridiculous. And parents are the driving force. Plus the fact that most administrators in the upper levels seem to be former coaches. Talk about trying to fight a dragon, that is a hierarchy nobody can tumble.
e Stadium.
"Crew Stadium is a 22,555 seat facility, home to the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, as well as a target destination for other marquee sports and entertainment events including US Soccer matches, NFL exhibitions, NCAA soccer, and concerts. Crew Stadium has hosted various high school football games since its opening in 1999, including the annual Grange Insurance Ohio North-South Classic and the Inaugural Ohio vs. USA Kirk Herbstreit Challenge, as well as other high school regular season and playoff games."
That makes a little more sense, gbradley, but apparently these Taj Mahal stadiums (stadia?) do exist, based on some of the other comments here.
Want to see ours?
Here's the Google satellite map.
And here's a closer picture
God bless Texas!
Not bad.
Want to see pictures of my school's really nice, uh...levee?
Rhymes with Right...I think your district at some point was on the recieving end of the aforementioned funds. I had a friend who was on a Prominently Named Houston Suburb's school board. Since that area didn't have zoning, but deed restrictions, on paper they had NO INDUSTRIAL BASE and thus were labeled poor. They got money, which she assured me was used for new tennis courts and band uniforms. In that same school year, the majority minority schools my kids attended had at least six portables at every school. There's still bad blood over this issue. And I still think it is incredible how in the same breath parents will condemn the academics but praise the athletics' programs and not stop to ask why.
In our case, everything was built through bond issues approved by the voters of the district, to be paid for with a tax increase. It also included as much money for academic facilities as it did for athletic facilities.
And since the previous football stadium dated back to the FDR administration and the district now has two large high schools with a combined enrollment of over 5000 kids rather than one with fewer than 700 at the time the earlier facility was built, it was about time for the old location to be replaced (it was renovated and serves as the venue for district soccer teams as well as middle school football games).
By the way, most of our schools still have some portables -- but that is because of a continuously rising enrollment that has seen us open at least one new school every year that I have been in the district. Our high school that opened in 1999 (located just to the northeast of the stadium) is undergoing its SECOND expansion project during its brief history.
We are in the transition phase of becoming an "inner ring" suburb with all the gang and minority and urban issues that implies. But even through more than 60% of our population is minority and much of that Hispanic, we are still on the roles of the tax gods as "rich" and send millions to Austin for redistribution every single year. And we pay for all those programs that the feds mandate but don't fund like ESL, Special Ed and other programs. I have a cousin in a Small Far West Texas College Town who teachers AP Biology to a class of five. I can't see that as cost effictive when the five districts in the area could consolidate and offer so much more academically. But God help us if these towns lose their football teams....
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