Carrollton-Farmer's Branch people...

[Slowhand]

That was the case when I was in school. That's no longer the case. Kids aren't taught material anymore. They learn to memorize tests. Completely your choice, and your business, but I'd consider a smaller house that would allow you to afford a private school.

I'm sure the teachers on the board will back me up on this, because they are just as fed up over it as anyone.

I won't disagree with this, because it's partially correct, but it still starts at home. My girlfriend teaches 2nd grade in CFBISD, and she has trouble getting them to understand/comprehend simple concepts like telling time or establishing basic cause/effect because the kids just don't know how to try to learn something; their parents either expect nothing of them, ignore them, or just aren't around to provide any guidance. Yes, it's a Title I school full of impoverished children, but it's common at some level to lots of education.

Even good schools don't teach dick. Education should be about learning how to think, and schools by and large only teach what to think. Private schools seem to do a little better job of this, but it still comes down to parents teaching their kids to think critically and evaluate information.

I wouldn't discredit the value of GT programs, either. Even in a bad district (I grew up for a good while in Irving ISD, and while the schools were so/so, the GT programs were above and beyond any other district's), a good GT program can go a long way. People like to shit on them as glorified advanced classes blowing smoke up kids' asses, but they come far closer to teaching the proper principles of thinking than pretty much everything else. More importantly, they teach kids how to organize their thoughts, how to argue, and how to crack jokes that are over the heads of the adults they encounter.

tl;dr: I don't believe in schools, period. They're all glorified daycares, and if your kid can manage to get something out of them, then great. All I'm hoping for is that whatever schools my kids wind up in teach them basic grammar and math so that I'm not having to teach them everything; anything beyond that is icing on the cake. You can make just the same out of education today as you could whenever, but you have to have the right attitude instilled in you.

[Ratt]

That was the case when I was in school. That's no longer the case. Kids aren't taught material anymore. They learn to memorize tests. Completely your choice, and your business, but I'd consider a smaller house that would allow you to afford a private school.

I'm sure the teachers on the board will back me up on this, because they are just as fed up over it as anyone.

My mom is retiring from teaching this year, so I know the state of the school district she teaches in. I was just hoping it wasn't that wide-spread. Looks like we will be looking for a 3 bedroom instead of a four bedroom, then. Oh well, I've been trying to convince the wife we don't need 4 bedrooms anyway.

[mstg46]

I grew up in Carrollton and went to R.L. Turner High school. I graduated in 98 and it was already turning to crap. If I were you, I would live north where your kids won't go to Turner or Smith. Hebron or Creekview would be better options.

[Ratt]

I wouldn't discredit the value of GT programs, either. Even in a bad district (I grew up for a good while in Irving ISD, and while the schools were so/so, the GT programs were above and beyond any other district's), a good GT program can go a long way. People like to shit on them as glorified advanced classes blowing smoke up kids' asses, but they come far closer to teaching the proper principles of thinking than pretty much everything else. More importantly, they teach kids how to organize their thoughts, how to argue, and how to crack jokes that are over the heads of the adults they encounter.

This. Every bit of this, I agree with. My parents always did everything they could to get me in the GT programs at whatever school I happened to be in, and it's helped me incredibly in more than just academic aspects. Critical thinking seems to be going out, so hopefully I can teach my kids how to think critically and how to evaluate situations for themselves instead of just coloring in the lines and calling it done.

[Probie]

I grew up in Carrollton and went to R.L. Turner High school. I graduated in 98 and it was already turning to crap. If I were you, I would live north where your kids won't go to Turner or Smith. Hebron or Creekview would be better options.

This X100000000000 Hebron being the best choice.

<----- graduated from smith last year

[Slowhand]

My mom is retiring from teaching this year, so I know the state of the school district she teaches in. I was just hoping it wasn't that wide-spread. Looks like we will be looking for a 3 bedroom instead of a four bedroom, then. Oh well, I've been trying to convince the wife we don't need 4 bedrooms anyway.

You're a smart guy, your kids will be fine. Involve them in your conversations, get them in GT/AP shit early on, and treat them like intellectual equals and they'll turn out fine. Schools did offered dick 20 years ago (I have proof: this board); they just offer a different brand of dick now.

[Cobraman]

I agree with what Ben said. Stay away. The area and schools have gone to shit. I would never send my kids there. My parents had my youngest sister transferred to another school in the district but it isn't really helping. Ben and I made it out okay, but had to put up with a lot of stupid shit from admins and students.

[Slowhand]

This. Every bit of this, I agree with. My parents always did everything they could to get me in the GT programs at whatever school I happened to be in, and it's helped me incredibly in more than just academic aspects. Critical thinking seems to be going out, so hopefully I can teach my kids how to think critically and how to evaluate situations for themselves instead of just coloring in the lines and calling it done.

I had this conversation with one of my bosses recently when talking about interviewing kids for internships. The biggest problem that big accounting firms face is a lack of staff members that either can or have a desire to interact with clients successfully and new recruits who possess very little in the way of communication skills; kids can't write for shit. It's not just grammar, either. It's poor organization of ideas and a lack of understanding of conciseness.

It then hit me that while the other kids in school were diagramming sentences and all of that bullshit, GT kids were writing papers and doing projects and all kinds of shit that seemed really extraneous at the time, but makes sense now. I'll bet I can probably dissect a sentence into its fundamental parts better than any of those kids can, either, and I can't remember a time where I ever formally diagrammed a sentence in school (/solidbarg). We also had a shitload more fun in class than the non-GT kids (where else could you get away with inserting Monty Python's Fish Slapping scene into the middle of a video project (and not be the only one in the room that got it)?).

[Ted]

Move to S. Irving and send your kids to Nimitz. They might not learn anything as far as an education is concerned, but it will toughen them up!

[Slowhand]

Move to S. Irving and send your kids to Nimitz. They might not learn anything as far as an education is concerned, but it will toughen them up!

lolz! I would have wound up at Irving High if my parents had stayed in Irving. Almost everyone I was friends with in 4th or 5th grade when I left remained friends all of the way through high school, mostly because they were the only white kids left.

[Cobraman]

Fuck, that guy is a product of that school district? Time to start looking elsewhere...

Yeah man, fuck that guy!

[Cobraman]

Cfbisd:

60.2% on free/reduced lunch
21.0% learning english
79.0% Minority students

[Probie]

Cfbisd:

60.2% on free/reduced lunch
21.0% learning english
79.0% Minority students

Sounds about right. Can you pull up stats by school?

[Cobraman]

Sounds about right. Can you pull up stats by school?

If you can, I didn't find it.

[Baron Von Crowder]

Ha. I went to Duncanville.