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Dropping Out In The Brazos Valley Save Email Print
Posted: 7:27 PM Apr 7, 2008
 Last Updated: 8:57 PM Apr 8, 2008
 Reporter: Mike George
Email Address: george@kbtx.com
47 comments
A | A | A

A national report shows a staggering number of children dropping out of school.

In places like Detroit less than 25 percent of the students complete high school. In some school districts in Houston less than 50 percent are graduating.

Here's a look at some of the school districts in The Brazos Valley.
According to the Texas Education Agency, The Anderson-Shiro School District has the highest percentage of kids graduating at almost 95 percent. College Station is next with 88 percent completion rate. The district with the lowest completion rate is Bryan I.S.D. at 74 percent.

Here's how the rest of the school districts in this area shakeout:

Brenham 83.2%
College Station 88.4%
Hearne 87.9 %
Huntsville 81.3%
Leon 87.7%
Madisonville 84.6%
Snook 87.5%

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Posted by: MIKE Location: BRYAN on Apr 13, 2008 at 09:34 PM
I have one in BISD and two in private school. Next year all will be in Private school. My wife will just need to get a job. BISD please give me my TAX money back. Talking with BISD-ADM is a waste of time and my money. If BISD was a business it would be Enron and gone.
Posted by: The REAL D. Location: College Station on Apr 13, 2008 at 05:05 PM
Dear Fake D: Impersonating a blogger? Maybe YOU need to get a life!
Posted by: Kay on Apr 13, 2008 at 09:21 AM
I have been in the education field for more that 22 years. I was a classroom teacher for many many years and now I hold an administrative position (not a principal). You cannot blame dropouts on any one thing. Kids drop out to support their family, because they are unsuccessful, because of conflicts in the school (with peers or educators), and for many, many other reasons. As a classroom teacher, I taught students not subjects. I didn't and still don't have time to lobby for a pay raise. Most educators have the thought in the back of their mind that someday the kids we are teaching will be taking care of us. Good teachers don't go into teaching for the money. As in any profession, there are some bad apples in the education field but you absolutely cannot place all the blame on educators. I believe that you can not 100% of the time leave no child behind. Life happens and not everyone is cut out to attend college. What happened to vocational tracks? Ask a legislator.....
Posted by: JWP Location: Bryan on Apr 13, 2008 at 04:27 AM
Well, I see once again our friends working for the school district are trying to avoid responsibility for their mistakes. This seems to be a recurring theme. It is time to go to the schools and clean house. The administration is out of control. The teachers are just kicking back waiting for their pension. ( you pay 50% of the cost of their pension ) The kids are the victims of all this nonsense. They are dropping out of school because they are not learning. They are dropping out of school because the teachers are not teaching them anything. They are dropping out of school because the principal will not even hear their side of the story on disciplinary matters. They are dropping out because they are bored. They are dropping out because they are not challenged. It is time to hire young, recent college graduates with new ideas to come in and take over the schools. Studies have shown teachers with about 4 years on the job have the same success rate as those with 20.
Posted by: Education vs. Business on Apr 13, 2008 at 01:02 AM
D...Remember, as an administrator I used to be a teacher. I know teachers do great things with all kinds of kids. But I should not be ashamed. As a teacher I had it made. I was in total control of my domain. I am not ashamed of my pay because I am not overpaid. I also do all I can to support and love on the teachers that work with me. I think it upsets me when I find that some teachers think that administrators dont do anything. I work my butt off everyday, and get no appreciation from anyone. I cant change how you feel though. Maybe the administrators that you have seen do nothing. Most principals are not paid enough! I will not change my opinion on that.
Posted by: Elmer Wiliams Location: College Station on Apr 12, 2008 at 10:21 PM
Dear D: You seem to be very critical of anyone that makes more than a school teacher. You have called "Business Owner" "unethical", "greedy" and "selfish" for expressing a desire to take tried and proven methods for success to the schools. You criticized "Education vs Business", a person claiming to be a "school administrator" for making too much money as well. D, comments like yours demonstrate your lack of understanding of the real world and reinforce my belief that I did the right thing when I spoke out to area school board members recently to express my opinion that teachers were not in need of another pay raise. Teachers were given a nice raise by the legislature just last year. Get your graduation rates up to 95% like one area district has done. Get your TAKS scores up and give up that 3 month Summer vacation and 2 week Christmas break. Then after that we will consider your request for another pay raise. D,(yawn) you sound like yet another delusional teacher.
Posted by: D. Location: College Station on Apr 12, 2008 at 09:22 PM
Boy do I need to get a life. All I seem to do is post on this KBTX site
Posted by: Put Kids First Location: A Region Near You on Apr 12, 2008 at 08:30 PM
I was employed with a Regional Education Service Center for many years. If you could spend one day in such a place you could see why many so kids are dropping out. There are so many misfits working in the public schools, the system is beyond repair. Kids are dropping out for many reasons including unmotivated and apathetic teachers and administrators. Most teachers are more concerned with lobbying the legislature for a pay raise than teaching the kids. My husband and I made the decision long ago to send our children to a private school. As I look back on that decision I am even more sure it was the right one. Drop outs will continue to be a problem until new people with fresh ideas are brought in to the problem schools. There is very little hope this will happen. Incompetent teachers and administrators are almost never terminated. The rare exception is when they are convicted of a crime, which seems to be happening with much more frequency lately.
Posted by: D. Location: College Staton on Apr 12, 2008 at 06:53 PM
Dear Education vs. Business: Administrators due 10% of what teachers do, and get paid 100% more than teachers. You should be ashamed of yourself. You're WAY over paid!
Posted by: Business Owner Location: Private Sector on Apr 12, 2008 at 06:17 PM
TO "D", Obviously, like most liberals, you are opposed to our capitalist system of economics. That's really not much of a surprise considering you probably received your education courtesy of the failing public school system. To " Education vs. Business", I will not allow an individual that seeks refuge inside the safety and security of academia to hold himself out as something he isn't. You are exactly the type of person I made reference to in my previous comments. Like I said before it is time for some personnel changes in the public school system. The schools have a responsibility to the shareholders(that would be the taxpayers) that invest in the schools. If the employees don't meet the expectations of the shareholders they need to be separated from the company. End of discussion.
Posted by: RJ Location: Bryan on Apr 12, 2008 at 03:39 PM
You would think the schools are free to do anything without accountability. The tax payer is the Owner. I like a refund. So I can put my money in a private school like Allen. A X-Bryan ISD. GRAD.
Posted by: Anonymous Location: Bryan on Apr 12, 2008 at 01:25 PM
BISD has had a free pass. It is time for a change at BISD. WE need some new personnel at BISD ADM. Now BISD need some money from a bond. Why does BISD do business with people with long crime rec. Does BISD thank we need to give our tax money to help x-cons. Maybe BISD can say the convicts are in the past. I hope BISD ADM. can say we had jobs in the past at BISD also.
Posted by: D. Location: College Station on Apr 12, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Dear Business Owner: It's obvious that you own a business. You're concerned about one thing and one thing only, and that's money. And you want more, more, more money. It's called greed. And you don't care about your employees! Make money any way, even if it's unethical. You're concerned about keeping stockholders happy, and you'll do whatever it takes to do that. Education is not a business! If you were the superintendent, I suppose you'd get rid of all of the teachers that had any students with less than an "A" average? You're not going to be able to find a teacher that can make every kid an "A" student. You would have a school that had no teachers. You know, those B,C,D and F students are very "unprofitable". You're a very greedy, selfish and inconsiderate person, "Business Owner".
Posted by: Education vs. Business on Apr 12, 2008 at 01:47 AM
It is always great to see business owners talking about running a school like a business. Well, all schools are in the business of helping children. I truly believe that. I bet in your business you dont directly manage around 4000 people like the principal of Bryan High School does. (and be underpaid to do it). If I am wrong let me know. A school is a totally different kind of animal to lead. Today's principal wears so many different hats, and 97% of the time he or she does it with great compassion and dignity. As a school administrator I will not sit here and allow business people to degrade the school systems. Yes, every school would love for things to improve. However in this case, if a student wakes up and says I am quitting, then he or she will quit. Try doing what a principal does everyday and I guarantee you will go back to propping your feet up and drawing your huge checks that you make in business.
Posted by: Business Owner Location: Private Sector on Apr 11, 2008 at 10:25 PM
I agree with "Accountability" below. As a business owner I can promise you that if one of my managers lost 26% of my customers there would by some personnel changes. It is time for some of the area school boards to get in gear and look real hard at some employee contracts when the school year is over. Schools need to be ran like a business. The student is the customer, the tax payers are the shareholders and the principals, superintendent and the teachers are there to see to it that the wishes of the shareholders are carried out. There should be some very angry shareholders with these figures. Profits are down and losses are up. It is time for some personnel changes.
Posted by: D. Location: College Station on Apr 11, 2008 at 06:46 PM
Dear Accountability: There are a few teachers that are idiots, I'll agree with you on that item. But, a small percentage of bad teachers in a child's education is not going to ruin the kid. Teachers are highly trained and are evaluated often. And teaching is one of the lowest paid occupations. The school has very little to do with drop out rates. The STUDENT is the one that chooses to drop out. The STUDENT makes the choice to either excel, just get by, or fail. You mentioned administrators. We need to lower their salaries, and give the difference to the teachers, where the real work is done. Administrators (especially superintendents) are WAY over paid!
Posted by: Drop Out Location: Bryan on Apr 11, 2008 at 04:31 PM
I dropped out of school in 1987 at the ripe old age of 16. Do I regret it? Sometimes. However, I had to work in order to help my family. Do I regret taking a job to help my family make ends meet? NO! I have never been arrested or used illegal drugs. I do not have any illegitimate children either. I am 100% self sufficient and have never had food stamps, welfare, public housing or any of the crutches weaker members of society depend on. Today I have a job that I'm very happy with and the lack of a high school diploma has not had much of an impact on my ability to earn a living or my financial status. This is America. You create your own opportunities here. If you can't make it in America with or without a high school diploma, MBA, PhD, etc., etc., you can't make it anywhere in the world. I wouldn't encourage anyone to drop out. However, if you must it is not the end of the world as many would have you believe.
Posted by: Accountability Location: Brazos County on Apr 11, 2008 at 10:06 AM
We need to start holding district administrators and teachers accountable for the high drop out rates. If they can't figure out a way to get kids to stay in school they need to be replaced. There is no point in throwing our tax dollars away in a school with high drop out rates.
Posted by: kay on Apr 11, 2008 at 09:54 AM
Herbert your data is from 2004. Mine is much more current.
Posted by: D. Location: College Station on Apr 11, 2008 at 07:50 AM
I agree with "Hates TAKS".
Posted by: Anonymous on Apr 10, 2008 at 10:56 PM
Bryan crime rate is high and BISD drop out rate is high. I would say Crime and no education go together. We get almost no news on the BISD crime in Bryan This may be our wake up call for Bryan. I have been told by BPD and other city officials we also have more HUD low cost housing per capta than any other city in the state of Texas. Looks like this study on Texas education in right on the money.
Posted by: Herbert on Apr 10, 2008 at 04:18 PM
Here it is. http://web.jhu.edu/CSOS/graduation-gap/power/report70.pdf I had some trouble accessing it though. It only lists the schools that they consider to be dropout factories. Mumford is on the list. That is all I am saying. Hearne has a very good completion rating. They have struggled on TAKS and I will never ignore that. I hope they are able to work on improving those scores. It is a good place with good kids.
Posted by: Loves TAKS Location: Workforce on Apr 10, 2008 at 03:27 PM
I love the TAKS test. It is a very valuable tool used to measure teacher success. These same teachers that whine about TAKS give their students a final exam as a tool to measure the students knowledge of course work. Talk about hypocrisy! TAKS separates the do nothing slackers from the teachers that are willing to buckle down and go to work in order to insure the kids are learning. High TAKS scores translate to educated students that are prepared to graduate. Prior to state mandated testing teachers often pulled part of their curriculum out of the blue sky. Slackers would give kids so called "free days" where the kids and teachers would goof off as opposed to work. Teachers no longer have time to grant as many "free days" because they have to teach in order for the kids to pass the TAKS.
Posted by: Hate TAKS Location: East Texas on Apr 10, 2008 at 01:58 PM
I agree with who ever said something about TAKS. Kids are not learning anymore, they are having TAKS crammed down their throat just so the school and teachers can get pats on the back or lose thier jobs because a child had a bad day and could not pass the test or just because they just do not process the information being thrown at them the way the state says it should be. Take this test away and let these kids learn and breath again and we may see lower drop out rates. Who ever started this horrible test needs a child who suffers from ADD, ADHD, depression or anxiety. Then maybe they would understand how much pressure they put our children, teachers and parents under just to hand out brownie points. I would rather see my child learn something and remember it from day to day, not forget it as soon as the test is over. No wonder we have school officials losing control and kids quiting.
Posted by: To Concerned Mother Location: College Station on Apr 10, 2008 at 01:52 PM
AMEN! You hit the nail right on the head with your comments. Like you, I am surprised that the drop out rate is not much higher due to all the self induced problems schools are facing. Schools always try to point fingers and say things like parents are not interested in education. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I do not know a single parent anywhere that does not want their child educated. In order to solve the drop out problem these school districts need to take a long look in the mirror. Get rid of the problem teachers, problem principals, expel disruptive kids( No, sending them to "alternative" programs so you can still get state funding does not count)and give control of the schools back to the tax payers that fund them. That is how you solve the drop out problem.
Posted by: Concerned Mother Location: Bryan on Apr 10, 2008 at 09:24 AM
With everything you read about going on in the schools it really comes as no surprise kids are dropping out. Recently an area principal allegedly assaulted a child, two area teachers had sexual relations with children, drugs, gangs, weapons, the list goes on and on. Many of the teacher overload the kids with so much homework they don't have time to be children. I am surprised they have as many graduate as they do.
Posted by: Eric Location: Bryan on Apr 10, 2008 at 09:04 AM
Drop outs are a problem. Drive by the welfare office on Villa Maria. Here you can see most of the Brazos Valley's drop outs. Welfare should be a voucher system. You should have a diploma & punch card to get a check or Lone Star card.
Posted by: Kay Location: Mumford on Apr 10, 2008 at 08:15 AM
Herbert, I am no belittling you. I am pointing out your mistakes. Mumford has a high passing rate as proven by the information at TEA. I am not the one that started out bashing a school district, you are. I also don't see a link in your last comment. I would be very interested in seeing the information. Please try to post link again.
Posted by: D. Location: College Station on Apr 10, 2008 at 07:07 AM
Carla, BISD is not the problem. The problem is the 30% of the parents and students in Bryan that do not value education. So the 30% of the student body is disrespectful to teachers, administrators and fellow classmates.
Posted by: Herbert on Apr 10, 2008 at 07:03 AM
This is the link. I had some trouble accessing it. It is a report by The John Hopkins University. You are right. I do know that Mumford's scores are good. I will not deny that. As an educator I know that is only part of the puzzle. Please dont belittle me with going to AEIS reports on TEA. That is my life...So, I know Mumford is a recognized district, I know the elementary is exemplary. But what does that mean? I am glad that you support Mumford schools.
Posted by: Alice Location: Bryan on Apr 10, 2008 at 04:25 AM
These figures provide even more evidence of the need to provide parents and students with private school vouchers. When the public schools are forced to compete for tax dollars the students will win. Competition will force both the public and the private schools to improve. I think you know what is best for your children. You should be empowered with a voucher. Write your elected representation and demand all parents be given a voucher that lets them choose whether their child attends a public or private school. Currently if you choose to send your child to a private school you pay private tuition plus taxes to your local public school. That is not right.
Posted by: Johnny on the spot Location: BCS on Apr 9, 2008 at 09:30 AM
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/ Go to accountability tab on left and look up the district you are interested in. Kay, is right, Herbert, don't know where you info. on Mumford is coming from, can you give us a website to see the info. you have?
Posted by: kay on Apr 9, 2008 at 08:58 AM
Herbert, I suggest you go to the TEA website and look up accountability ratings. I also suggest you go and visit the Mumford schools. Why are you so negative? Mumford is doing a good job at educating students. I will also say that Hearne has done nothing but improve its quality of education in the past few years. Five years ago i would not have even considered allowing my children to attend Hearne, now things are different. Hearne is improving and Mumford is still providing a quality education to all of its students (about 60 live in district and the rest are transfers, most from Hearne)
Posted by: Herbert Location: Hempstead on Apr 8, 2008 at 10:02 PM
Kay...We are not talking about Mumford's passage rates on TAKS...we are talking about non-completers! Which equal dropouts...Its all part of the scheme Mumford runs to fudge its TAKS scores. We all know that they dont do stuff right over there.
Posted by: kay Location: mumford on Apr 8, 2008 at 03:47 PM
Mumford's passing rate as reported by TEA is 95.5%.
Posted by: Cornel Location: Navvasota on Apr 8, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Why was Navasota ISD not a part of the survey on percent of graduates from high school?
Posted by: Anonymous on Apr 8, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Where is Normangee and North Zulch on the list? Does anyone know how to find out where these two schools rank?
Posted by: Carla on Apr 8, 2008 at 12:06 PM
This really does not surprise me but I know my child will not attend school in Bryan starting Fall 2009...I am not happy with BISD at all.
Posted by: Anonymous Location: Bryan on Apr 8, 2008 at 11:09 AM
It's nothing new...I dropped out of Bryan schools over 20 years ago so I could get my GED and go to college to ACTUALLY LEARN SOMETHING!! Which I did...unfortunately my children are now in Bryan schools...We need to move --
Posted by: NISD Resident Location: Navasota on Apr 8, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Where are the figures for Navasota?
Posted by: Mike Location: Bryan on Apr 8, 2008 at 09:46 AM
What a shame!
Posted by: Marti Location: Brenham on Apr 7, 2008 at 09:52 PM
This is a direct result of "No Child Left Behind."
Posted by: Herbert Jr. Location: Hempstead on Apr 7, 2008 at 09:23 PM
This is good news for Hearne ISD. No one wants to recognize the great things they are doing for kids in Hearne ISD.
Posted by: Herbert Location: Hearne on Apr 7, 2008 at 09:22 PM
One school that didn't make the list was Mumford. They are another district that is considered a drop-out mill. THey should be on this list. They are right up there with Bryan with large amounts of non completers. But of course God forbid Mumford gets some bad press.
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