The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 93, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 5, 2021 Page: 4 of 14
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Texas ranks 38th in per pupil spending
ability grade and 1026 average SAT wealthy district, BHISD gets a re-
countability grade and 1136 average by a system that penalizes property
Crosby ISD forks out $9,600 per SAT score. Around 30% of students
drew Goodman and James Chaney were Pentagon, President Barack Obama vigor-
TODAY IN HISTORY
READER ADVISORY BOARD
A former longtime Baytown resi-
dent, Ginger Stripling now lives in
Mont Belvieu. Contact her at view-
Accounting
Circulation
cuts state funding when local prop-
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House quorum
break postpones
GOP voting bill
Whether 57 Democrats in the Texas House of Represen-
tatives fleeing to Washington to break quorum to stall a Re-
publican voting bill ever works in the long tenn, it’s had a
large impact in the short term.
Among other tilings, it has precipitated dozens of meet-
ings with members of Congress and people in the White
House, including Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Texas Democratic U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey praised the
student, right about the state aver-
age. Around 57% of its funds come
from the state, because the district is
somewhat property poor.
The district has a B state account-
ability grade and 951 average SAT
score. Just over half of students are
to earning a B grade in most other
states.
Second, no one is happy with the
Texas school funding formula. Dis-
tricts like Crosby feel short-changed
Austin refugees for their impact to TV
host and civil rights activist Rev. Al
Sharpton on his Saturday program.
“I want to thank the Texas legislators,
Rev. Al, because in my opinion, they re-
ally helped sort of speed this up,” said
Veasey, who spent eight years in the
Texas House before election to the U.S.
House in 2012.
He said the census numbers, expected
to be out in mid-August, are used for re-
districting every 10 years, and will see
A few months ago, I compared
the Texas education system to other
states in the union. Overall, Texas
ranks 38th in per pupil spending and
35th in educational achievement.
Statewide, Texas spends $9,600
per student, far below the national
average. Still, that number doesn’t
capture significant variation in re-
sources from one district to the next.
Let’s drill down to the local level
and look at Goose Creek, Crosby,
East Chambers and Barbers Hill.
This data is from 2019-2020.
GCCISD spends about $10,800
per student, and 40% of district rev-
enue comes from the state. The rest
comes from local property taxes and
federal aid.
The district has a B state account-
On this date:
In 1892, businessman Andrew Borden
and his wife, Abby, were axed to death in
their home in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Lizzie Borden, Andrew’s daughter from
a previous marriage, was accused of the
killings, but acquitted at trial.
In 1790, the U.S. Coast Guard had its
beginnings as President George Washing-
duced state appropriation.
The district has an A state ac-
score. Just over half of students are
at-risk, and 18% are limited English
proficiency.
are at-risk, and just under 4% are
limited English proficiency.
GCCISD and Crosby have a sim-
THIS
MESSAGE
BROUGHT TO YOU
BY THE CDC .
4 Uhe Waptown Sun
Thursday
August 5, 2021
a
BLT show: Absolute total fun’
I
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the Lee College theater facilities
are among the best. After seeing,
“Mama Mia,” I heartily agree.
poor districts, and wealthy districts
like BHISD fume over sharing local
dollars with other districts.
The state calls it recapture.
EDITORIAL POLICY
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some big demographic changes. The white population is
going to shrink by about 2 percent, while Black, Hispanic
and Asian voters will increase significantly.
He said it will be very important to reinstate the pre-clear-
ance requirement of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
It requires pre-clearance of voting law changes by the U.S.
Department of Justice, or a three-judge court of appeals in
Washington, D.C., before they can take effect.
That requirement was stripped from the Voting Rights
Act in 2013, on a 5-4 Supreme Court decision, on grounds
it was no longer needed.
Near the end of her dissent in Shelby County v. Holder,
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg suggested a simple analogy
as to why the regional protections of the VRA were still
necessary.
She wrote that “[t]hrowing out pre-clearance when it has
worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory
changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstonn
because you are not getting wet.”
Texas is set to gain either two or three new congressional
seats, Veasey said, as they are re-allocated among the states
based on population changes.
“And if we’re not able to put the guard rails back up on
the Voting Rights Act, and have pre-clearance, Republi-
cans are going to draw three of those seats based on how
it was” under the old population percentages, rather than
what they are now, Veasey predicted.
“So, time is of the essence,” Veasey said. “I’m glad that
the state legislators are in DC, breaking quorum.
“They’re heroes for doing tins,” he said. “Otherwise,
you’re going to see large scales of minority voters in Texas
discriminated against.
“And not just in Texas, but in about four or five other
key states, that also need to have pre-clearance back up,”
Veasey said.
The flight of the quorum breakers, plus appearances on
national news programs and testimony before congressio-
nal committees and less fonnal discussions, helped spur a
four-day voter rights march from Georgetown to Austin.,
that began Wednesday, July 28th.
Modeled after the voting rights march from Selma
to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965 that helped to bring
about the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, the George-
town-to-Austin march organized by the Poor People’s
Campaign culminated with a 10 a.m. rally Saturday July
31st in front of the Texas capitol.
Appearing at the rally were famed singer Willie Nelson,
fonner presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, Luci Baines
Johnson, daughter of the late president Johnson who signed
the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and the Rev. William J. Bar-
ber II, a civil rights leader from North Carolina.
Jesse Jackson, a presidential candidate in the 1980s, also
joined the march on Friday, that paused in North Austin,
before the final leg Saturday to the capitol.
On Thursday, while the marchers were on their way,
Houston State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, 82, the lon-
gest-serving Black and woman Texas House member ever,
testified Thursday to a congressional subcommittee.
“I’m here because tins is the seat of democracy,” Thomp-
son said. “And my people who I represent have a right to
be able to vote unabridged, just like all of you.”
On Monday, August 2, more than 100 state legislators
from more than 20 states joined their Texas Democratic
counterparts for a Tuesday rally in DC, to press their cases
for the Senate to pass the For the People voting rights bill.
It would help put federal law behind state efforts to pro-
tect against voting discrimination.
Getting national attention was a central part of coming to
Washington, said House Democratic Caucus Chair Chris
Turner of Grand Prairie.
“That’s the point of being here,” Turner said. “That’s the
objective. We’re buying time.” With the Republicans con-
trolling every part of Texas government, “our message to
Congress is that time’s almost up. We have to have action,
and we have to have it now.”
•mp• ^MEMBER
•• 2021
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I was blown away by Bay town
Little Theater’s production of
“Mamma Mia!” I went with a group
of ladies to celebrate one of their
birthdays. A bonus was that it was
a matinee. Although most of us can
drive at night in Baytown (we were
all raised there), anywhere else is
another matter. We know the ins
and outs of our hometown and that
makes all the difference for a person
is something spe- of the show, but the rest of the cast
cial about being a were delightful as well. A show is
part of the palpable always a hit if the actors seem to
A “h
m W
b
Ve- —
excitement of live be having a good time doing it. All
action. those on stage were having such fun,
We were thor- you just wanted to be up there sing-
oughly entertained ing and dancing with them. That is
last Sunday as the the key to great entertainment.
GINGER red velvet curtain I especially enjoyed the young
STRIPLING opened on the final men dancing and cavorting with
performance. The rubber swim fins on their feet. Don’t
with aging eyesight venturing out at definition of entertainment is, “an know how they did it; if you have
night behind the wheel. activity that is diverting and that ever worn flippers you know what
The venue was Lee College The- holds the attention” BLT’s pro- i mean. The flashy costumes of the
ater of Performing Arts. I have at- duction certainly delivered in that sinoino +ri. were _nnc in the
tended other shows there and it is respect The musical features songs dream,the man as a bride
a fine theater. We watched the cast by the Swedish pop group ABBA 1 ;1
rollicking across the stage in this and they were delightful. The title wasih ; ,,
111112.1 1.2 k A x 1 r n , 1001 . All in all, absolute total run.
lighthearted presentation about a was taken from the group s 1975 hit Al 21 1 . c 21 1 r
young woman p, eparing to many song, “Mama Mia.” At the beginning of the.play, di-
her fiance on a Greek island where The mother (Donna) and daugh- rector Jim Wadzinki said that Peo-
she lives with her mother. She wants ter (Sophie) duo (played by Heath- Pe should not be surprised that
her father to walk her down the aisle er Morrill and Julianne McBride) E aytown has such talent, that it is
but doesn’t know who he is. After wowed the audience with the vol- on the way to becoming a great Arts
finding three names in her moth- ume and range of their fabulous and Entertainment destination,
er’s diary, she invites all of them to voices. Robin McDougald and Lau- The Bay town LittleTh eate is n
the wedding in hopes of finding out ren Hefferman did a great job also of the longest running communi-
which one he is. as Donna’s two friends from her for- ty theaters in the United States and
It is always fun to find your seats mer life in a trio of pop singers.
and settle in to be entertained. The The three dads, whom Sophie
lights dim, then there is a hush that invited to the wedding without her
signals that the show is about to be- mother’s knowledge, were played
gin. I love movies on the big screen lightheartedly by Sam Gorashko,
also, but there is nothing like the up Ron Priddy and Lyle Tate. They per-
close and personal feeling of seeing formed their roles well, with wit and
WRITE TO US__________________________
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STEVE 56% students are it has far lower numbers of at-risk
EuAWN TFR at-risk, and 24% and English as a second language
onUWAL tn are limited En- students, and that translates into bet-
glish proficiency. ter outcomes.
BHISD spends about $12,000 per Here are more things to ponder,
student, and only 11% of district First, treat the state accountability
funds comes from Austin. Local system with some skepticism. Each
property taxes pick up the bulk of state designs its own rating system,
the cost. and Texas has set its bar pretty low.
The Texas school finance law Earning an A grade Texas is similar
ilar number of at-risk and limited Wealthy districts call it Robin Hood.
English proficiency students, but Poor districts call it equalization.
Goose Creek spends considerably Where you stand on the issue like-
more dollars on each student. The ly depends on where you sit.
found buried in an earthen dam in Mis- ously denied that a $400 million cash pay-
ton signed a measure authorizing a group sissippi. ment to Iran was ransom to secure the re-
of revenue cutters to enforce tariff and In 1987, the Federal Communications lease of four Americans jailed in Tehran,
trade laws and prevent smuggling. Commission voted 4-0 to abolish the r, .. _ r kr1 1
In 1830, plans for the city of Chicago Fairness Doctrine, which required radio oug or oday: When you ove
were laid out, and television stations to present balanced someone, all your saved-up wishes start
In 1964, the bodies of missing civil coverage of controversial issues. comingout.”
rights workers Michael Schwerner, An- In 2016, Speaking to reporters at the —Elizabeth Bowen, Irish author
real, live theater. I get the same feel- flair. points@baytownsun.com, Atten-
ing watching sports in person. There These were the main characters tion: Ginger Stripling.
at-risk, and 15% are limited English investment appears to be paying off
proficiency. with higher SAT scores, a strong Dr. Steve Showalter is a govern-
East Chambers spends about predictor of success in college. ment professor at Lee College in
$11,300 per student, and 67% of East Chambers has the most chai- Baytown.
district revenue lenging student demographics with
comes from the the highest number of at-risk and
state. limited English learners, but they
The district has still perform pretty well in educa-
a B state account- tional outcomes. Kudos to ECISD.
ability grade and BHISD has significant built-in ad-
1043 average SAT vantages. Not only does it have con-
score. Almost siderably more financial resources,
Uhe Maptowun Sun
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Bloom, David. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 93, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 5, 2021, newspaper, August 5, 2021; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1468440/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.