April 30th, 2011
Another school year is wrapping up and on most of our minds is the hoopla surrounding graduation, summer vacation, higher electric bills due to cooling costs, etc. etc. But for most area students, the fall semester is just around the corner. I realize that for some, its sacrilege to bring that up now, but it will be here before we know it. For those of us who teach, the cycles of the school year are the unending patterns that govern our lives… but I digress. At least in private schools, every fall there’s a mad rush to recruit as many new students at the last minute as possible. This is especially true for jr. high and high schoolers, who are notorious for waiting to the last, minute to register. Elementary parents are typically far more conscientious about early registration. I can assure the reader, that your children’s school appreciates the fore thought.
Another great concern for area private educators is the tendency many families have to save money in tough financial times, by pulling their students out of private education and enrolling them in public schools. While I certainly understand the need to pare back on monthly expenses, as a parent there is very little I wouldn’t sacrifice to keep my son in a solid academic environment and out of the government schools! A solid education (particularly a religious one) is an investment in a child’s future, which will pay dividends in an ever- changing world. For families who find themselves in a tough financial bind, but who are committed to their children’s private academic excellence, I recommend looking at other (hopefully more inexpensive) options in our area this summer, before placing their students in public schools.
Tyler is blessed with just about every conceivable kind of private school, from pre-K to twelfth grade. In fact I can think of a couple small start-up schools that opened last semester and another is preparing to open in the fall! Schools are becoming more and more like churches in our town (not surprising I guess since many are actually housed in and operated by local congregations). In actuality, we don’t need any more of either here. We have some tremendous, churches and some great schools, Rather than opening new ones we need to participate in and support those we already have. Certainly we can all find a place with an approach and a philosophy with whom we can at least mostly agree!
We here at Tyler Directory have written about nearly all the private schools and educational models available in our area. To read about specific schools and or, their philosophies of education, look to the bottom right of this page, and click the education tab for a list of articles.
Tags: Academic Environment, Academic Excellence, Conceivable Kind, Electric Bills, Fall Semester, Financial Bind, Financial Times, Government Schools, High Schoolers, Hoopla, Inexpensive Options, Mad Rush, Monthly Expenses, New Students, Private Education, Private School, Private Schools, Sacrilege, School Year, Twelfth Grade, Tyler Texas
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December 12th, 2010
I have always enjoyed the sport of people watching, whether in Jackson square or Trafalgar. Well now that preparations for Christmas are well under way I’ve discovered another hobby closely akin it. I call it house watching. Now before you draw comparisons between my new pastime and stocking, allow me to explain. A few nights ago I took my son and my nephew out for what turned out to be quite a long walk to look at Christmas lights. Like going to an off Broadway play, we strolled the nicer neighborhoods between Holly Tree and the mall, barely on the west side of sixty- nine.
Not all of the homes were decorated of course, but a number had some really nice displays that quite captivated the boys. I was slightly surprised to find some really beautiful homes in the area that actually, in my opinion, rivaled those in even more upscale neighborhoods like Holly Tree and the Cascades. While I admit it is a little shameless, I found myself catching glimpses in the windows of Trees, decorations and even the homes themselves. I suppose it’s natural to wonder and speculate about the folks who live there. I felt a bit like a Hugo or Dickens character, wandering through the wealthier districts of town at night, in the cold December air wondering about other men’s families and how they celebrate the holidays. It was enough to send me reaching for a copy of A Christmas Carol upon my arrival home.
At any rate Tyler is a fine city in which to spend the Christmas holidays. It’s cold, but tolerably so. A wool coat and a scarf, (if you’re into that sort of thing), is usually sufficient and you can still experience the traditional Christmas nostalgia as you take the kids “house watching” though the decorated neighborhoods with cups of coffee or hot chocolate.
So what’s my point? Simply this: Enjoying the Christmas Season in Tyler doesn’t have to mean spending a lot of money in these tough financial times. Maybe it just means taking a cool walk down a brightly lit street and finding that you’re pretty thankful for the blessings that are already in your life. Merry Christmas Tyler! Enjoy the Holidays, and don’t forget to take in the lights!
Tags: Broadway Play, Christmas Carol, Christmas Holidays, Christmas Lights, Christmas Season, Cold December, Cool Walk, Financial Times, Glimpses, Holly Tree, Hot Chocolate, Nephew, Pastime, Scarf, Town At Night, Traditional Christmas, Trafalgar, Tyler Texas, Upscale Neighborhoods, Wool Coat
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November 12th, 2010
Fresh from his most recent election victory nearly two weeks ago, Governor Perry visited Tyler again today. He wasn’t stumping this time however. Instead, Mr. Perry held a book signing in coordination with the Grassroots America group. The book is entitled: “Fed Up — Our Fight to Save America from Washington.”The book highlights the importance of state and local authority, and the need for citizen action to oppose a growing Federal government. All proceeds for the book go to “Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Tenth Amendment Studies.”
Over the past couple of years, particularly since the election of President Obama, we’ve seen the governor being politically born again. Tenth amendment or state’s rights issues have been central to Governor Perry’s administration of late and he has spent a great deal of time traveling the state and country making a case for smaller government. While I like him well enough, I’ve been a sort of tacit supporter of Mr. Perry’s over the years; mostly because he has never been considered a rock solid conservative. Indeed it seems that he tends to become more conservative around election time. But In light of our current political situation, Mr. Perry has come to resemble Ronald Reagan… ok not even close, but you get my point. His pro- business and generally low tax policies have kept our state fiscally sound, or more so than many or our sister states, in tough financial times. He has also been an advocate for citizen groups like Grassroots America and the Tea Party since their inception. The governor’s participation in events like the one in Tyler today, have been frequently chalked up to election year politics, but with November second behind us, and the county in a decidedly anti- government mood, he may see an opportunity to move toward the right on a more permanent basis. Of course, only time will tell if he’s actually had something of a political epiphany. In the meantime you’re welcome in Tyler Governor, come back anytime!
For more information on Grassroots America and what they’re doing in our community, go to the following web sites: http://gawtp.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grassroots-America-We-The-People/157828612919.
Tags: Amendment Studies, America Group, Citizen Action, Citizen Groups, Election Time, Election Victory, Election Year, Financial Times, Governor Perry, Local Authority, Political Situation, Pro Business, Rick Perry, Ronald Reagan, S Center, Sister States, Tax Policies, Tea Party, Tenth Amendment, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Tyler Texas
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November 3rd, 2010
Tyler Texas School Bond
I’ve been teaching in private schools for a fairly long time now. In fact, of the four different private schools I’ve taught at, three were start up schools when I was hired. I have worked these small schools with small budgets and small student bodies for a lot of years, all the while watching students receive great educations. We’ve never had the most advanced audio- video classrooms, the fullest, most well stocked kitchens, and more often as not we would share the facility with a church or other entity.
But each of these private institutions provided their students with an education that was well above average without spending a dime of other people’s money. I’m not about to suggest that public schools can or should try to survive on the same shoe string budget as private schools do, but what I am suggesting is that our esteemed school district could stand to learn lesson from private institutions about doing more with less.
In 2004 and 2008 the Tyler Independent School District (TISD) descended from on high just long enough to announce their intention to fix or rebuild fourteen area schools at a cost of two hundred twenty million dollars. This marked the completion of the first two phases of a revitalization program that was approved by the Tyler community. Yesterday however Tylerites dared to frustrate the august school district by saying no to another eighty- nine million for the rebuilding of three more area schools. Now I don’t dismiss public schools, or public school teachers.
They are doing a tough job, often in less than ideal circumstances. But as a voter, I pay enough property tax for institutions that I don’t even use. Telling me and voters like me that the money is “for the children” is simply not enough to persuade me to vote away my income in these tough financial times. I realize that proponents of the bond claim that a raise in property taxes won’t be necessary this time around, to which I reply “famous last words…”
I know I’m just a naive private school teacher, but three hundred million dollars is a lot of money to me. And while I also understand that some schools are overcrowded TISD has a lot of problems that can’t simply be solved by dumping students into a posh new building. Cutting local and school bureaucracy might afford an avenue to finding unorthodox, and or cost effective solutions.
Unfortunately, local educational bureaucrats had already decided how they wanted to spend our money, and didn’t feel like it was necessary to explain it to us. I have a couple of suggestions: first off build it cheaper. I’m sure there some places to cut back somewhere in that nearly ninety million dollar project. Next sell us on it. Don’t assume we’re going to rubberstamp your multi- million dollar boondoggle on the basis that it’s for the children. Spend our money wisely and we’ll eventually build your school.
For more on TISD and the bonds visit their website at http://www.tylerisd.org. Also, see the article entitled Tyler School Bond Vote located elsewhere on this page.
Tags: August School, Bond Claim, Educations, Eighty Nine, Famous Last Words, Financial Times, Independent School District, Kitchens, Private Institutions, Private Schools, Property Tax, Property Taxes, Proponents, Public School Teachers, Revitalization Program, School Bond, Shoe String Budget, Student Bodies, Tisd, Tough Job, Tyler Independent School District, Tyler Texas, Tyler Texas school bond, Tyler Texas school bond election, Tyler TX school bond, Video Classrooms
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July 19th, 2010
This past weekend the Tyler area and the nation celebrated the country’s two hundred, thirty fourth birthday. In the wake of tough financial times the celebrations seemed to me a bit more muted than normal. News reports claimed that fewer Americans spent the usual dollars on fireworks and cook- outs than in previous years, while more people went out to watch big professional fireworks displays. I remember as a kid spending a lot of money on fireworks and even experimented with creating my out, (something I don’t recommend to young people today). But not this year. Instead my young son and I did what many families did this year; we took in some professional and inexpensive events that didn’t require us to go out of our way.
Every year a number of local organizations put on an air show featuring contemporary and vintage military aircraft. These events seem to be held at different locations around East Texas, and admission is always very pricey. However as aircraft arrive the previous day, (the third) The Historical Aviation Memorial Museum (HAMM) holds what they call a “static air show.” Participating aircraft are put on display on the tarmac at the old Pounds Field terminal in Tyler, (now the location for the museum) prior to the main show. For five dollars, visitors can get up close and personal (in most cases) with some really unique and fascinating aircraft. This year’s cast included a C130, a couple of F16s, a couple of A10s, a B25, and others, in addition to the aircraft on permanent display. My little guy was fascinated by the exhibits (as was I by the way), and enjoyed the opportunity to climb in and around the C130 Hercules in particular. This is a really neat event that is inexpensive and helps to raise a little money for a great area institution.
The rest of our weekend was rather subdued I introduced the boy to the joy of sparklers and few other rudimentary fireworks (a gift from friends) and that night we walked up the street to watch much larger display put on by our community. I don’t think this admittedly mundane story is much different than the one most folks are telling this year. Hopefully, the decline in festivities is merely symptomatic of the fact that collectively, we’re not in a partying mood and doesn’t indicate that we are forgetting the reason for the season (if I can borrow a badly misapplied cliché). But it’s often the small events that we remember. And hopefully, in years to come, my son will be able to reflect on the year “we saw the airplanes and the lights,” with fond nostalgia.
For more on the Historical Aviation Memorial Museum, see their website at www.tylerhamm.org. Also see the following articles on this site: Cultural Institutions and Events in Tyler TX, and World History is Down the Street.
Tags: Admission, B25, C130 Hercules, Celebrations, Cook Outs, East Texas, Exhibits, Field Terminal, Financial Times, Five Dollars, Historical Aviation, Military Aircraft, Museum Hamm, Previous Years, Professional Fireworks Displays, Sparklers, Static Air, Tarmac, Tyler Area, Tyler TX
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