Story Time From Uncle Govteach.....Or as My Actual Nephews Call Me....Kerry....

 I like to tell stories from the old days.....Let you know what a high school near Houston was like....

The fight business was real and it was scary. And this was long before they had police officers either hired by the school district or hired full time by the schools.  I know there are sheriff deputies still hired at LCM ISD. ( Correct me if I am wrong) and places like Vidor, Buna ISD have their own police departments. I remember when the Pct 4 Constable in Jasper County was the Resource Officer in Buna.....

But long ago, fights? 

The teachers broke them up. 

I helped break up a fight between two 250+lb football players in the Social Studies Hall. I hit the ground and hurt my already brittle back, Laird Engel the chemistry teacher was walking down the hall town the science wing got involved and he hit the ground. The toughest one of the group was Charlene Chumley a math teacher who had come down the hall to help, rolling around with one of the fighters in a choke hold. Come to find out Charlene had been raised only girl with 5 brothers. And this was everyday for her growing up. I also found out she grew up on an actual ranch in South Texas and her dad raised her as another guy. 

I hurt my back. And I went to the doctor. The district fought me too and nail not to file worker's comp. It is one of the few times I was glad I had a brother as a lawyer. He was working for a firm and an older partner called the Supt. of Schools and read him the riot act. 

Now that time my back improved and I only missed a couple of days of school, but that right there shows you, it is just a job. A school district will throw teachers under the bus in a heartbeat. 

- Let's do some sex at school. 

We had an English II teacher and a science teacher decide that they were going to have sex at school. And they did it of all places on top of the biology lab tables. Early, early morning before school. And get caught by a couple of kids coming down to another class to make-up work they'd missed. UIL Academic kids. Only ones who gave a damn enough to show up that time of day. (Both trying to get into Rice. One eventually did, the other one had to settle on Tulane. )

Both of course resign, and I do not know how, both of their spouses stayed with them. Maybe both spouses thought, " I get a Hall-Pass now?"

The room was later used as a classroom, but was forever known by kids and faculty as the ' Sex Room.' The new teacher who was assigned the room took half a year for someone to tell her what happened in the room. (New college grad English teacher, of course. ) 

Not good enough?

I was eating lunch in my room one day with another couple of teachers when Mrs. XXXXX our hall custodian came by and said, "Can y'all come look at some thing with me?" She never asked us anything and generally only spoke pleasantries. 

We follow her down the hall and hear what can only be called @ sex noises@ come from a classroom that was being used as a storage room. Why it was unlocked, I do not know?

We open the door and there was 4 students, 1 girl and 3 boys engaged in as Shelton from "Big Bang" would call, "Having Coitus. " All "nekkid." . We step outside after they realize we are there and tell them to get dressed. 

The stories changed 4-6 times from all 4, and in the end, all 4 were booted off campus for a month. None of the boys returned.  She did, like nothing ever happened. 

- Still not good enough? 

School is a rumor mill and many times, it is the truth, sometimes it is just rumor. 

Toward the end of a school year, the rumor was an 18 year old girl ( In those days 18 could work in such clubs)was "dancing" at a club in the, well, let's just say Houston. 

Well, she went from driving a beat to hell Dodge to a really nice Acura Sports Car. Brand New.I didn't think anything about it. Graduation present was what I thought.   ( Acura used to make some nice sports vehicles)

I know I had a set of twins whose dad had given them both F-250s at graduation to work in his rice farming business. A tax write off. The rice farm is long gone, but both are rich from Liberty County real estate development and are living out around Rocksprings. BTW- Boy and girl. Boy married his high school sweetie, the girl married a boy she met at A&M who was a business genius. ( But again, I digress)

It wasn't until one Friday afternoon, I had seen her come to school like everyone else, jeans, t-shirt. 

By the time she made it to my last period economics class, she had changed. 

Tartan skirt, white dress shirt, knee length socks, and a sweater.......Dressed for work.....At first, I said nothing. She hadn't used a trowel to apply her make-up yet..... Looked like a Catholic/Episcopal schoolgirl.......Being ever the smarta$$,  I couldn't not help it and asked, "Miss the bus to St. Catherine's School for Wayward Girls?"

She laughed.  

I should have been fired at least 100 times....And I was able to weasel my way out so many times.... 

Story is she used this to put herself through a fancy college in North Texas....Only dancing back in Houston away from her school.  Married to a lawyer..... I wonder if he knows? 

After graduation I found a card on my desk for a free 'lap dance' at a Gentlemen's Club in Houston, one I couldn't afford the cover choice for...I found the card a few years ago in a box of junk I collected over the years teaching. It was tossed away with a other stuff stuff I couldn't even remember where it came from? 

I originally thought perhaps I could give it to a 'saint' when I was feeling particularly 'randy.'   

Yeah, never used..... 

You want more stories? I got some to make you cry your eyes out..... 

 

 

 

 

So, Buna Can't Keep Teachers.....Or Find Ones Certified.

  People like the old school " Teacher" just aren't made, or can't hardly be found anymore. 

And of course there are reasons why including the kids have changed, parents think they know more history, math etc. than the person in the classroom.  

Again the important word here is...." Think." 

Then again, there is the lack of appreciation.  And I know the old Don Draper saying...."Appreciation?  That's what the money is for..."

Trouble is, compared to every other district in Texas Region V, Buna is near the bottom of money showing appreciation. 

Or do you think we appreciate the chicken sausage gumbo without Chicken.....Or Sausage....IYKYK.  I still tell stories about that.

I shouldn't have gotten mad, or disappointed.  

But yesterday, I saw a young lady whom I performed her wedding showing off the stuff she received for working at her place of employment. 

One included a belt buckle for 5 years service.  

I found the "pin" that Buna ISD gave me for 5 years service. It was in my wife's costume jewelry box. ( I may as well say, jewelry box, she has no real fancy jewelry. )

I measured the pin against a dime. The dime covered the pin like a full eclipse. And the writing on it, even with my reading glasses, well, you need an electron microscope to figure out what it says. 

I received one for 10 years, I think it was supposed to have a faux "jewel" in the center, but if you take a good look, it has fall out, long ago. Also, about half the size of a dime. 

For my 15th year, I get a windbreaker. We were supposed to get a choice of another pin, or the el-cheapo windbreaker. And the windbreaker was about 5 times too large. An entire Bedouin tribe in the North African desert could live in it. I tried to wear it to school.    

Now I know the Buna Schools is trying to do a little better pay-wise, but I wonder about the appreciation? 

And I am not talking about appreciation. Now I know the ISD got meals for teachers at this past in-service, but the "gubmint" teacher in me  wonders if they wanted the teachers on campus to keep an eye on them, so they won't tell newbies what is REALLY going on at the Mexican place in Silsbee? Mr. Taucer and myself found it was good to get off campus, if just for a few minutes, get a sandwich and a DietCoke/Regular Coke and see people we know up town and just give them a " holler." Re-charge those batteries.

I don't know. Too much micromanaging, too little pay, too little respect. 

I was told one time that me going and spending a week at the University of Texas-Tyler to get my Advanced Placement Macroeconomics qualification ( It was the only school in Texas offering the school that year. There were teachers from Austin ISD, Richardson ISD, Fort Bend ISD, Galveston ISD, Pharr-San Juan ISD, Ore City ISD at the school. We had people from Louisiana schools taking the course as it wasn't being offered over there. The AP Government class that year was being offered at of all places Louisiana Tech out of the way for everyone even in Louisiana. Ruston is even 70 miles from Shreveport. )

Anyway, I was told " It's like a vacation. " 

What? 

I am taking time off in the summer, to go get AP qualification for the school district. Away from my family, in late June, and rather than stay at the fancy hotel the conference suggested we stay at, which was a fancy downtown hotel, I stayed at a hotel saving the Buna ISD about $100 a night. I ate at Luby's, which was much cheaper then, and at IHOP. I splurged one night and ate at Texas Roadhouse the night before I left. And I paid for most of the meal out of my pocket, my meal stipend wouldn't even touch the bill. 

I passed the test, and by Noon on Fridays I was headed South. 

Vacation? 

I have never had homework or had to pass an exam at the end of any vacation I've ever been on before, or since.  

This is the mind of a school administrator.  And many admins stay gone to these overnight, spend the week in Galveston, San Antonio, Dallas conferences. Stay at the higher end Hilton or Hyatt or someplace nicer.....Never anything like the Holiday Inn Express /Ruston, Louisiana....And while there, those administrators " Hob-Nobbed " and looked for their next job. I had to pass a test to KEEP my job...

 We had 2-3 hours of homework every night. We had an exam to pass at the end of the week. And it was so hard the guy who had a Master's degree from UT-Austin in Economics said, " Wow, that was hard."       

I know Buna is trying to try, but in truth, trinkets, while they're nice,  donated tax-write-off meals seem  nice and all, sometimes just actual actions like telling people how much you appreciate them and be able to tell them what is going on in that teacher's world means a great deal. 

I keep hearing from people who tell teachers, " Well this is what you signed up for." 

You know, it really isn't. You aren't and in truth can't be prepared for what might happen at your school, in your classroom. Even a veteran teacher like myself expected the worse, and many times, it was even worse than that. 

Mr. Vaughn, here's a quick story. 

I witnessed a kid stab another kid, high schoolers,  with a large yellow handle Case Stockman's pocket-knife. Blood everyplace. I can see it to this day. No cops. No other faculty. It's you another 100 kids and it's you and wind up tackling the kid with the knife.  You get into trouble for the kid's parents for " Tackling the kid with the knife too hard." I almost get sued and the school district doesn't take your side. 

Here's another one. 

Two girls get into a fight in the cafetorium at Dayton HS. They are swinging like it is the Middleweight Championship of the World.  Girl fights are scary. They try and kill one another. When boys fight, they are generally glad to see a teacher show up so they can stop hitting one another. Girls do not care. They are literally trying to kill one another. Luckily, a newly hired asst. principal is there. It takes all we have to get the girls apart. The asst. principal, Tim Gaissett. has to take one girl down by pulling her hair. I bear hugged the other girl. Still both were fighting us to get to the other girl. We had to put the girls on the ground. 

When Tim and I got up, we were covered in blood. Covered.  We had to check and make sure it was not us hurt.

One girl had her nose broken, and had a cut beneath her eye that had to be stitched.,the other her head split open and got 13 stitches. In spite of that, they still wanted to murder each other. 

The lady custodians refused to come in and clean up the blood. It was on the floor, on the tables, some was on the wall.  

Head wounds bleed badly. 

There was so much blood on Tim and me, we could not get it off of us. My shirt was saturated.  I wanted to go home and shower and burn my shirt( And it was a good one too. an Orvis long-sleeved brown and green tattersall.) They did not let me. I was told, " You should have had a change of clothes in your closet at school." I found dried blood later in my beard.

It almost looked like we'd been baptized in blood.  

Of course, fighting over a boy.  

This was during the AIDs scare. Even now, blood born pathogens are a real thing.  Not going to lie I got tested a couple of times afterward. 

I burned my clothes. I avoided "being" with my wife until I got the " all clear" from the doctor.  

That was my last year in Dayton ISD. 

I hated my principal. I need to tell you stories about that sorry so &so...He's dead now.....Not supposed to speak ill of the dead. I'll make an exception in his case. 

Teachers need some respect and from what I am told, Buna isn't given their faculty what is needed.   

 

Buna Schools....And Something Most Have Not Considered......

 So, I keep seeing  from the district leadership. 

Yes, I know it is a difficult job. But you should have known this before you took the position. Let's face it, most people and I am serious when I say this, go into administrative positions not because they are not there to help the kids of the Independent School District, but rather to improve their fortunes. 

Those of us, who COULD have chased the almighty dollar yet stay with the kids because, well, it's where we can actually do some good, and some of us actually LIKE teaching 17-18 year old people. And some of us actually feel it is where we are called to be.....A poor paying, small district, in the middle of no place.....

Not because we are from there, are because the salary they are offering is better than the last berg I was working at.   

It is another reason why I did not go into the ministry. So much of it is moving from one place to another, seeking an even larger paycheck. You rarely if ever see a clergyman move to a poorer paying church. Southern Baptist preachers are notorious about doing this.....

And sometimes where you wind up is hard. You wonder if you are going to survive. You often look in the mirror that first couple of years, tying that perfect "Cravat" trying emulate George Bryan "Beau" Brummell.  

And it somehow comes together.....

Other times, in an act of desperation, you seek Jesus in what seems to be a time of disconsolateness .....Folks, don't wait to go there....Go there and stay talking to the Divine. It's why I get up every morning at 4AM and have intercessory prayer. 

Sometimes you are not where you are supposed to be, and we do not realize it until we are there.  

I seriously wonder how many times serious prayer is done before these moves. I know I almost didn't go to Buna several different times and events just kept happening to send me to South Jasper County. 

Sometimes it is time to retire/ move on in life, especially if in desperation we are using prayer, scripture to help us mentally, and that should have been done first.....Not in a time of despair.  

- Even though we are in a period of anti-college, there are still positions when require a university degree. I know the corporations in which my children find themselves employed require bachelor's if not a master's degrees from institutions of higher learning that even gaining acceptance is quite difficult. 

While businesses like Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips appreciate a Lamar University graduate, there are many other international businesses who have not a clue who or what we are. Even outside of the oil patch in Texas the school isn't well known. And I blame to a certain extent Lamar graduates themselves, but that's another story for another time. ( Trust me, when I was in graduate school with Baylor, A&M, UT, Tech, LSU, OU grads, I beat their brains in knowledge-wise, and academics. And often did so with great relish. BUT, again, that's another story....For another day. )

So, Kerry, Kerry Don, Govteach, Mr. Thomas....Where we going here? 

With the latest scores Buna ISD made, it makes it harder for Buna graduates to get into harder colleges, better known more prestigious universities, and trust me, there are people in Buna want their kids to attend these schools.  

And when a university acceptance committee looks at potential academic's applications, the high school they attended is a pretty big deal. ( I know when Reid went to the University of Texas' Business School they looked at LCM and what was going on there.)

If a school is making a "D" trust me, the applicant from that school is questioned in committee....."Do they have a  rigorous enough academic background to do well at this institution?" And many times, the committee answers...."No." 

Another reason people outside the ISD looking for a nice quiet town to move to in which their kids can get a good academic background a school OTHER than Lamar...Or McNeese?

Just something else to be concerned about Buna.    

A Trend?...... The Time I Almost Broke Up With St. Debbie

 I need to "lighten up" a little this weekend. If this is actually "lighter." It may not be. 

So, on Social Media there is a trend of female posters kissing their male best friends. Just to see what will happen. 

That may friends, is not that new of a trend. 

It happened back in the day. 

Ladies, in many cases, the boy is hanging around, hoping, praying that the girl will realize what is sitting next to her, and trust me, unless he is a gay friend, 95% of the time, the boy is hoping the friendship will turn into some sort of a romantic relationship. 

And many times when the girl kisses the boy, he goes for it.....Why not, what does he have to lose?

Sarah Locke-Stockwell post a video of her family, friends have a good time down at the creek. Something I remember doing in high school and especially college.  

I know a group of boy I associated with, some going to Lamar, some A&M, one at Baylor, one at McNeese  all camped together 1-2 weeks a year at Sam Rayburn during Summer break. 

We pitched tents on a peninsula away from everyone else not to bother them.  

Yeah, we drank some Pearls( Old school Texas beer) , some Heineken Darks, smoked some cheap cigars, I smoked a corncob pipe with Captain Black cherry tobacco one year,  one year we just cleaned up catching white perch and had fried fish, and potatoes until we grew gills. Cooked on an old Coleman stove.Swam. told lies and stories. 

Lots of horseplay. 

A couple of guys were trying to figure out where they were going when their parents found their grades.  

Every year, a group of girls would come up one day to...."Check on us."

A couple the boys wound up marrying a couple of the girls and are still married. 

One of the girls was "My Friend" and God bless her was not the most attractive girl in the face there was....That said, she had the body of a Playboy Model. God sometimes helps folks out in different ways. We will call Her 'J' ......

After we  swam out afternoon, we all came up to the tents, and sat down in the chair in a semi-circle. J came up, in her bikini and proceeded to sit in my lap. I was telling some sort of bologna story at the time, ( I know, Kerry Thomas telling a wild story. Shocking I know)  

As I completed the story, she turned and started to kiss me.....I turned away and the kiss landed on my cheek, in an attempt to defuse the situation, I kissed her back on the cheek. 

You see she had apparently liked me for a while, and instead of waiting until I was girlfriend less, I was during that Summer break, she had become the @ Practice Girl@ of a guy who had a football scholarship at an SEC school. He used her for sex. He had convinced her he liked her. And during the trip she "told us" she was no longer with the football player. 

So, kiss your boy who  is a friend isn't a new thing... 

Well, maybe, maybe not...... 

I could not go there. I had gone through maybe you have another boyfriend of not before. 

Sure enough, the football player got her pregnant about 6 months later. Big scandal. She lost the child in the process, left the state and last I heard had graduated from a college in Louisiana and married a guy from near Alexandria.  

- One day, I am going to tell you about the asshole Kerry Thomas. 

I dated a couple of three girls after a break-up with a longtime girlfriend. And I had decided I was going to initiate the breakup before we got too serious.  

The last girl was about 5 years older than me, and she decided I was 'The One.' Even offered to " Suck my dick" anytime I wanted to stay with her. 

That made me run away even faster. ( I'm not kidding, some guy will write me and say..." I would have stayed, a little while, just to see if she spit or swallowed." Some of y'all just nasty. )

I literally didn't date anyone for 2 years. Was seriously looking at an Anglican Franciscan Monastery near Dallas to live once I graduated college. They have a massive peach orchard....And Lord knows I like peaches. 

Quick lesson- The difference between monks and friars. Monks stay in and chant....Friars get out and about the community. Monk's robe are black...Friar's robes are brown....(A paper on the development of Franciscan vs. Augustinian communities on Friday, 5000-15,000 word essay of course.  Of course a development of 13th Century theology versus 5th Century theology needs to be included. ;) ( Take hardcore Church History classes in seminary and you write on this)

It was about that time I met my wife, and we had been dating for about 2 weeks. Not even that long. 

Not serious, not exclusive, no " I love yous" nothing like that, when she told me...."My friend weeks ago has me going on a blind date. I promised her I would go, and it was weeks and weeks ago"///She even told me that she wouldn't go if you didn't want me to.....We were not exclusive, I wasn't sure where this was going....I did not object. I probably should have.   

She went on the double date and before they even started, she had them bring her home and called me to come over. She did not tell me what had happened. I think she had one of those ..." What am I doing?" moments. 

I was going over and was going to tell her, " Hey look, I don't think this is going to work out."( I am not 'the one' I'm not going to compete.)

When I met her at the door, it was like I had been at sea for 2 years. And she expressed how much she had fallen in love with me. 

Literally,  I was smitten. 

One of the people who'll probably read this married her husband after 17 days. And while I was a little taken back, we could have eloped and married St. Debbie at 17 days too.  

And believe it or not,  I am a romantic at heart. I think I've read too many Victorian novels. ( Then again, for the first time about 2 weeks ago, I read Lake District Poet Thomas De Quincey's book " Confessions of an English Opium Eater." He suffered from extreme facial pain. So much he considered taking his life.)

So, any of you have a story like this? 

 

So, We Had a Political Assassination.......And I May Need to Let Buna ISD Rest....

 I had fully intended to tell stories in the blog today......One including a trend among young people today that actually was a trend that often happened in the 1970s. Actually Sarah Locke reminded me of something that happened long ago that applies to today....

One of the stories involved a girl in a string bikini sitting in my lap, and no, it wasn't St. Debbie. That occurred about 2 years before I even knew St. Debbie existed.( I was almost "cool" at one time....What happened to me???)

Part of it is to let you people know everything that you think is new, is actually old....

Hell, this blog is about what you think is new is actually old....

We had a political assassination yesterday in of all places, Utah. 

The country is all in turmoil because we've not really had a major actual assassination occur in a number of years. 

As a youth, America was under turmoil like most of you do not understand, and I lived through it.

It was a 10 year period. 

I remember vividly when I learned of it. 

The 1960s, early 1970s were just different. 

( I am going off the top of my head here) 

-I vividly remember JFK's assassination. I was in Mrs. Park's class Room #12 when Arlen Portie( Yes, you Mormons should know her family. I've known the Portie's for 68 years), the Principal of Pine Forest Elementary came on the PA and told us that he had been killed in Dallas...... 

- The next day, I was at my Uncle OJ and Aunt Mart's house when Jack Ruby shot Lee Oswald live on TV. I witnesses it as a child, over and over again as CBS repeated it. 

- In 1968 I was in a Weingarten's Grocery Store in Vidor. It existed where the City Hall of Vidor now sits. The long time clerk named Bobbye told us about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. And the adults were concerned about the long term events in the country. He had been shot by James Earl Ray standing outside his motel room in Memphis. 

- Also in 1968, I remember getting up in the morning to learn that Sen. Robert F. Kennedy had been assassinated after he had won a primary election in California. He had been shot and killed by a supporter of Palestine, a man by the name of Sirhan Sirhan, who was born in Jerusalem. I saw it on NBC. 

- In 1972 longtime Alabama Governor George Wallace was was shot while campaigning in a presidential primary. He was not killed, but was put in a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. He was shot by Arthur Bremer. BTW, Bremer was paroled from prison after 35 years and in May of 2025, his probation ended. I remember seeing small story about he being "free" from government supervision. 

Debbie and Kerry were walking a street a couple of years ago, in Derry, Northern Ireland, not ones to shy away from questionable places only to read where a car bomb exploded  in an attempted assassination on that same street two weeks later. 

These of course were people on both sides of the political ideology. 

And as I told Mr. Howell on Facebook yesterday, there have been political assassinations since the beginning of time..... i.e. Julius Ceasar , heck there is a photo of Cousin Andy and myself in front of Guy Fawkes' house in York, England whose plot involved in perhaps the largest attempted political assassination in history. ( Many of you know I am fascinated with British History, especially English Church History, and had portraits of Tudor-Stuart Queens at one time in my home, but alas they've been replaced by wedding pictures of Reid and Yu 'April' Zhou.)  

I am afraid we are going into a period of unrest, and this one I am afraid will be worse than better. 

Here in America, we missed this,but, in the last week, there were 6 German politicians"mysteriously" die.  

Russian drones infiltrated Poland's airspace yesterday and Poland shot most of them down.  Poland is a NATO member.

They are ramping up talk of a European war. I know we have postponed a possible Italy/Switzerland trip.....We almost went to England literally yesterday. Found a deal with Delta/Virgin Atlantic Airlines, and were on the verge booking the flight and I'd found a German car( Bryant Long would be proud of me) I was about to click to rent when the phone rang. The person I sleep with has to adult later this week. 

The world's economy is in the tank.  Already conspiracy theorists are wondering if his assassination is " Hey look at this, not how bad things really are over here." 

And don't be surprised if there is a riot in London this weekend near the UK Parliament buildings.  

I am telling you, it is going to get worse before it gets better.  

Finally.....

I keep some things from , well, everyone. 

I get ugly, ugly messages from people concerning the blogs I write. 

Especially, concerning Buna Schools. 

The messages I receive from people are not the ones that bother me, and in truth, for years, I just blow them off. Mostly I think they are funny. And me being me, I make fun of them. 

Lately, the messages have become more, hate filled. 

When someone tells you that " I hope you wind up in Hell" well, people are different than when I started the blog. 

And it's not the messages I receive, it is the people who don't write....They're the ones I worry about. 

I can see some "not quite right" simp  trying to impress some female associated with the ISD. 

People, wherever in the world are " Not right." 

Knowing me, in my mind I will rationalize me continuing to publish blogs on Buna Schools, but I may take a couple of days before I go after the district again.   

 

 

   

 

   

Buna ISD and Excuses....

 " Excuses are like assholes.....Everyone has one....And they all stink......"

I am going to digress before I talk about Buna Schools, briefly. 

Thank you to the person who sent me a cover from the band, My Morning Jacket covering Lou Reed's, Velvet Underground's " Oh Sweet Nuthin'"  Plus Gov't Mule and Grace Potter covering " Gold Dust Woman."  I don't know how they knew I was a big fan of guitarist/singer Warren Haynes?

But, this is not what the blog is about.....

So, apparently, at the Buna ISD's School Board meeting last evening the building principals were allowed to address the recent scores from the State of Texas. 

Bad scores, let me remind you. 

And excuses were made. 

It seems they used the same " Shop-Worn" excuse " The scores don't define us."

Then, they used COVID as an excuse.....Hell, that was 5 years ago, you should have "righted the ship" by now.  Other districts have.....

Bullshit......Hell, I'm calling double Bullshit, tell someone outside of Buna ISD looking at the district. They're literally looking at the district going, " They ain't learning shit there are they?"  They again look at Buna's scores and then look at Port Arthur ISD's, Beaumont ISD's, West Orange-Cove ISD's and Buna is like them......Perhaps even worse in a rural setting. 

Scores are how people look at a district. Yeah, the system sucks, but it's what we got. Sometimes, even if we don't like it, we got to work within said system.  You keep poor scores, guess what, the State of Texas comes in and takes over. 

Then, some were saying that this was " Only a hiccup."  

And looking at the scores going down over the last 3 years,  That don't look like no damn hiccup to me. Three years is a trend. And I know the politicians have to say this, God-forbid they say, the feckin' truth.... 

And with continual poor scores, don't tell me the Texas Education Agency doesn't have Buna Schools in their sights.  I'm telling you, it is starting to get close to the TEA coming in and taking over the district....

There is also seems to be a problem with classroom management.....That's a fancy-ass term for controlling the kids in your class. 

A concept, literally foreign to me. 

And I know kids are "different" in 2025. But I'd figure out a way that I am in charge. They may think I'm a demon from Hell, but we are going to be in control. 

I am wondering how much this is due to teacher hiring practices of the school district?  How many non-certified people are teaching in the district?

You can't control the kids, you cannot teach.  

Literally, that is Rule #1 of teaching school.  

Seriously, and I know after reading some of the pieces I write you may think to the contrary,  but, I really seriously want to see the Buna ISD do well. Sometimes when I see what is going on I wonder if I worked there like a damn dog for "nuthin'." 

 

 

 

 

 

This Blog is for You Mens.

 Mens,,,,That;s the way my late great-grandmother said it.....Some sort of far Northeast Texas pronouncing. It's where I got the " Cold enough to get married " from. Northeast Texas has Scot-Irish roots we do not have down here. A number of us in SE Texas have Coonass roots, including the writer of this blog. 

Okay guys, and this is serious( like there are no womens reading this....She didn't pronounce it womens,,,,I am for fun...) 

You have a project you are going to do.....New deck, porch, boards to replace around the house.....

Even if you are not ready to do it, and some of us are saying,  " I'm going to do it when it gets a little cooler." 

Anything that requires lumber.....Buy it now....

Okay, putting my economics hat on now....( I need a green fedora when I do economics....I'd look like a feckin' leprechaun at St. Patrick's Day.)

The price of lumber is down.....Part of it is the cost of houses and people not buying them. The Federal Reserve of course has raised interest rates and the cost of buying a home has gone up, along with anything with an interest rate, id est ( that is)cars.  ( Again with the Latin, wasting that divinity school education)

And the number of sawmills that have closed down, thus the price of lumber is still low. 

Later this month, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve is going to meet and there is a large pressure for them to vote to cut the interest rate. ( Many want large cuts)

So much so, the stock market has gone all in to investing in publicly traded housing construction companies.  The two major companies I looked at, one is up 24%, another is up 40%....People expecting "The Fed" to drop the interest rate at least .50 basis points.....Some are saying, 3 whole points. ( I doubt that.They are still afraid of "caused inflation", and it's bad enough as it is now.)  

And if they do, they are expecting new homes to be built.

Trouble is, with the present economy, can most people afford a new construction home? 

Wall Street is banking, " Yes." ( I am wondering if they are reading this wrong? I keep seeing massive lay-offs in the news, and people not being able to find work.)

And with the low cost right now of lumber, there is nothing in the supply chamber to ship, if lumber, mostly 2x4s, plywood is bought by construction companies. And the old supply and demand takes effect. 

Sawmills have to ramp-up. They have to get lumber cut, shipped to the mill, got to hire workers...This stuff doesn't turn on a dime. In many cases it takes months to get up to speed. 

So, you might want buy that lumber soon, put it in the barn, the shed, in the garage for future usage.  

I may write on the "Labor Paradox" next......Yes, working on a Buna ISD curriculum blog, and it is turning out harder than first expected.  ( I may go deep and talk about Richard Cantillion, the Irish-French economist and his " Essai Sur La Nature Du Commerce En Général." Yes, I read it in English. Tell you stuff to scare you.)