FEMA won't cover Texas schools' added teacher, textbook expenses

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal ^ | Tuesday, September 13, 2005 | Associated Press

[Redbob]

Oh, don't take it so hard; after all, he didn't mention the smell of New Orleans...

[Redbob]

How do you explain the huge difference between Friedman's spending figures and the Census Bureau's?

[Redbob]

"Texas has a one third better student to teacher ratio that Georgia but Texas's SAT average is only 2 points higher so clearly there are other factors."

I'm guessing most Georgia schoolchildren speak at least soome version of English at home.

Here in Texas, there are a large number of children for whom that cannot be said.

[atlaw]

The 7,500 per year estimate is out of place in the article. I've seen this figure in the Chronicle before in reference to the total estimated annual cost per student, which includes infrastructure and maintenance (heat, cool, water, lunch room, gymnasium, garbage disposal, library, computers, desks, nurse, food service staff, etc.) as well as teacher and administrative payroll costs. FEMA has already committed to covering some (though by no means all) of the infrastructure costs, so the figure is misleading in the context it is used.

And by golly, FEMA and La. better cough up the cash, because our state and local property taxes shouldn't be bearing the brunt of an otherwise national crises.

[atlaw]

In the Valley, English is a foreign language.

LOL. I periodically end up in Edinburg and McAllen fighting gas battles with local leaseholders, and I'm beginning to think that spanish is a foreign language down there too. I have the feeling that eventually the local spanglish dialect is going to become a language unto itself.

[Captain Peter Blood]

AS far as I am concerned that isn't a FEMA responsibility anyway.
These people at a lot of levels think FEMA is the end all for everything and it isn't.

[bonfire]

Moved from TX last year and I would have been ticked off too. Our schools were already overcrowed and not enough good teachers.

[gondramB]

"UNless things have changed, Louisiana schools stil use the ACT more than the SAT for college entrance. Only the better students take the SAT, and I'd bet a smaller percentage of students overall test for college."

And you would be right. I just checked.

[Pookee]

Surely you are aware that there is no correlation whatsoever between the amount of money spent per pupil, and the quality of the education - or more correctly, the test scores of the students?

You are correct about that. I was thinking only of the ligistical cost of hiring teachers, running busses, giving out free lunches, etc. Truth be told I don't think the TX education system wants any help from the LA system. Whatever they were doing did not seem to be working. One of my close friends teaches 3rd grade in Houston and she has told me that many of the transplanted students she has gotten cannot even read.