Texas Edumacation (*_*)

I chose to comment on ExtraordiMary blog about texas education. I agree with her and dislike the fact that Texas is "50th in National SAT scores and of the top 5 for highest high school dropuouts rates." I can also see why she is isn't happy to have graduated from high school and "did NOT garduate with a proper education." I felt the same way after i graduated. I went to the same school all my four years of high school and only worked hard for two years. My sophmore and junior year i did very poorly and felt like dropping out. After seeing all the frredom i got and how easily it was to skip high school, i chose to be the bad kid for those two years. When i made it to my senior year, not knowing how, i noticed i didn't want to be left behind and started to work very hard for to graduate. I went in an hour early before school started and left an hourly late after school was over. Texas government needs to step up and do a better job for public schools, if i graduated this easily with only two years of hard work, senior and freshmen, what the hell is the purpose of spending money on the teachers if their giving me a passing grade? I know being a teacher isn't the highest paid profession in the world or that its pleasant, but if you chose to do this job and not like it, then why are you even teaching at all? Maybe the question is; why is Texas letting you teach like at all if you're not doing your job right?
Did you know that the newspaper has to interpret its words to that of a middle school student level? That's how low Texas education is and the fact that higher education is doing so well is a huge mystery to me. The only possible explanation i have for this is: For higher education one must pay for their education and are old enough to know what they want in life, and as for K-12 students it's free and we go to it because it's the law in Texas and we missuse our free opportunity for a successful future. In other words, we really don't know what we have until we lose it. I am really glad that i chose to got to college because i really found out what learning and getting educated really meant. This semester i had two really great teachers that knew what they were teaching and might have learned the most from them than i ever haved in all my years of education.
Knowing that Texas education isn't the best in the U.S. makes me "sick" and "embarrassed" like Mary, but knowing that there are teachers that try hard to educate their students and pushes them to expand their mind, gives me hope that one day we can both become number 6th and 49th.

Texas Thinks Green

Environmentalists and a few local businesses want to have a greener Austin and are pushing the City of Austin to do more for a cleaner more conservative Austin. This grant, if passed, will give Texas $5.8 million for attic insulation, weather stripping, high efficiency appliances, and other improvements to low-income households over the next two years. The building of a solar panel and having "energy districts" might be seen by 2015 and by doing this will keep electricity demand low, so that Austin can avoid a power plant built by 2020. In order to have greener environment we have to start somehwereand i hope that this is a good start for the state of Texas. I really don't know how effective the use of solar panels is, but if it will help pollution and lower the use of power plants i would like to have it installed in my house and would be great if the government is paying for part of the cost or allthe costs. I'm glad that Austin is starting to change it's view on the environment, as we can tell, the population is increasing rapidly as every year passes and to think for a cleaner future is a smart and right way to go. If having solar panels by 2015 or 2020 becomes a law in Texas, not only will Texas be a cleaner state but it will also be giving out employment out to Texans. Ireally like how Wood and Reed are ambitious about cutting the energy demand of megawatts by 2020, and not satisfied byt the Austin Energy goal of 800megawatts andstriving for 1,000mw goal, it will put one foot ahead of the other states by keeping the planet cleaner. The way Austin officials are trying to keep Texas as a clean state by wanting to build a recycling facility in Ausitn, my morning topic, and the use of solar panels makes me feel proud of living in Texas of the goals Woood and Reed want to achieve, i know i will put my grain of sand in this effort for Texas.

Texas Beaten Future

My comment is on Soheb's, "Can we stop Child Abuse in Central Texas?" Everyone hates to see parents beating up their child or hear about families being torn apart on the news. I detest people who neglect or abuse their most precious gift in life and that is the ability to give life, especially since the kids in the story, are from Texas. I agree with Soheb and dislike very much the large number of 1,509 deaths of reported cases of neglect and abuse. Now these deaths only include the numbers from 2001 to 2007 that are reported, im sure there are hundreds maybe thousands more, that neighbors or family members didnt report to a higer authority or the police. It is required by Texas and federal law that minors attend school, in all these cases, i wonder if the teachers or the friends of these kids ever notice the signs of abuse? Students spend a tremendous of time at school and are seen five times a week by their teacher or by the faculty who are all considerd as role models by the community. I think we should train teachers and students signs of child abuse or neglect, also having a teacher parent meeting not only helps the relationship between parent and teacher, but also demonstrates to your child that you care about their future. I am actually a little surprised that Texas made the program Relief Nursery of Central Texas in 2006 and not any time sooner, knowing that the number of abuses was twice the size then any other state. I think facilities like the Relief Nursery of Central Texas is a good start, but we can do better than that as Texans. Just by asking out own kids simple questions such as, how was school today? Or did anything interesting happen to you today? These questions can lead to a closer look at your child's life and who he is surrounded by whether it's a good friend or a strange friend who is always quiet. Child abuse can be happening right now, next door at your neighbor's house and we wouldn't even know it. Every ten hours 80 kids are abused here in Texas, it would be great if we could drop the numbers of abuse from double to at least average. Here in Texas we all love big things, but the large numbers of child abuse is not something to be proud of and is quite shameful, now my question to you is, will you help a child when they need help or will you let the numbers keep going up?

H1N1 Shots for Convicts

Texas prisons and Texans are in conflict over why should criminals deserve to get H1N1 shots before the citizens of Texas. The article by: Mike Ward, states that the shots will go to "those most at risk". I think those who really need it should get the shot, criminal or not. You got pregnant women in prisons and hundreds maybe thousands of people who visit the prisoners on a day to day basis. The Texas prison system is the second largest in the U.S. and has more than 150,000 convicts, why let all these people die over the neglect of a shot? If we allow them to become easily infected, doesn't that make us criminals too? We have a chance to decrease the spreading the spreading of the H1N1 virus, i mean come on, yes they have committed crimes and have done wrong in the past, but what if some aren't guilty or about to finish their jail sentence? These are all questions we should ask ourselves before we start to act selfish. To be honest we can get a shot at a clinic any time we want to, some of us are just to lazy to go and get one. Convicts are there for years and some for life, never able to go anywhere outside the barb wired fence that separates them from us. If the 203,000 vaccinations arrive to the prisons as requested, the officials will distribute the shots to the "offender's medical status- not the custody level." I really dont know how to contain a virus, but the way the prisoner officials wanting to reduce the spreading, sounds like a good start to contain the virus.
We may not care much for the prisoners or the sentence they are serving for the crime they committed, but we should because our neighbor, co-worker, or the guy at the fast food place taking our order can have a realtive or friend in jail that might have come in contact with the H1N1 virus. In other words, you don't have to step a foot in a prison to get the virus, but if there's one less person contaminated, it's better for the health of the guards and the Texas citizens.

Texans Helping Texans

I chose The North Texas Conservative on "Vote "Yes" On Proposition 7" by Shawn M. Griffiths. He does not like what the Article 16, Section 40 of the Texas Constitution says that, "no civil servant can hold 2 political offices or propositions on the government." In other words this means that "a teacher, police officer, fire fighter or another individual whose job it is to provide civil service could not hold a position as a Texas legislator or any other state elected official." Mr. Griffiths supports Proposition 7 because if it isn't passed it could take the right away from a police officer to not be allowed to help out in the Texas State Guard, Texas National Guard, Texas Air Guard, etc... I agree with Mr. Griffith and would vote yes on Proposition 7. Texas needs many hard workers like those who want to help out not only because it's their job but because they want to. All of the volunteers who serve in a branch of the Texas State Guard are the first to respond whenever we need a hand in a natural disaster. How can the Texas Constitution deny a persons will to help those in need or in a time of crisis? I'm not sure who his intended audince is but he certainly got my attention. He also has a few representatives who are Republican and Democrat who want to change the "language" on the Texas Constitution. The State Representative who are involved in this cause are Phil King (R-61), Rep. Dan Flynn (R-2), Aaron Padilla (D-40), and Ryan Guillen (D-31), these state representatives are leading officers in the Texas State Guard.
Without Proposition 7 we would be losing great leaders, mentors, and Texans who are willing to put their life on the line for others.

The Kids Can Wait

Eileen Garcia, from the Austin Americn Statesman, is very concerned about the Texas kids health care because the programs who work for the state cant seem to work together. With over a dozen state agencies in the state, the families are the ones who struggle to get help being sent from one program to the next costing them time and money. A huge disadvantage is that mothers who make an anual income qualify for Medicaid but when the father of the child sends money trough child support they also qualify for CHIP. When both agencies hear about each others assistance both dont take responsibility in the mothers or childs health services. Texans also spend millions of dollars from tax money helping out the same kids over and over because nobody is keeping track of these expenses. I think that Garcias' audience focuses on those who aren't happy with the way Texas Government handles Medicaid and Chip programs because we spend millions of dollars for these programs to help out families but the results aren't the best we wish to see. She uses three great examples to show how these programs arent doing very good for the state by overspending taxpayers money, but yet the state implied a solution with the main leaders of these programs coming together for a meeting to make things better. The program will be called Council on Children and Families, similar councils have been made in 24other states and have been succssessful in these ways: "..reducing child poverty, eliminating waiting lists for family subsides, improving childrens mental health care and increasing adoptions, all at a net saving for taxpayers." Garcia is the executive director of Texans Care for Children, a non-profit agency, i agree with her dislike on how these agencies are being runned and hope the Council on Children and Families could help the lives of those who need it most at an affordable expense.

Hispanic Dream

Today students from the University of Texas got together and rallied up for The Dream Act. The Dream Act would give thousands of illegal immigrants students a chance of success in this country only if they qualify. The deal would be that they must graduate from high school and then have to serve either two years of military service or attend two years of college. It would make me very thrilled if this bill would pass because it would encourage the Hispanic race to achieve in our education. In my point of view, the Hispanic race sooner or later will become the majority in the U.S. and it will do the country really good to help us strive in the future of these kids because they are the American future. I attended one of these rallies a few years ago, in downtown Austin, and felt really happy to see thousands of students and parents together hoping to make a difference for this generation. Will theyre American dream come true?