The Dinner Party

On August 29, 2011, after 14 years of being out of school, I began my first semester at Eastfield Community College.  I have decided that since Cayden will begin school next year that it was time for me to return to school and  begin working towards my teaching degree.  So far, I have to admit that it seems a lot easier now that I am older and more mature than it was when I was just 18 years of age.  This semester, to start me off lightly, I registered to take three classes (Composition I, Introductory to Anthropology, and History of Western Music) and am happy to report that my classes are coming along smoothly. 

For my Composition I class, one of our first assignments was to write a narrative essay.  The essay could be written in either 1st or 3rd person and we could choose our topic from a list of three.  My essay topic: If you could choose to invite three people-living or dead to dinner, who and why would you invite them?  I am happy to report that I have earned a 90/A on that essay and that my teachers major concerns were to have me work on sentence structure (I missed quite a few commas) and to refrain from using contractions in formal writing.  So without further ado, here is my essay (with corrections made):

The Dinner Party

The table is set, dinner is just about cooked, and the guests should arrive shortly.  The menu for the evening is a simple menu of Shrimp Creole served with a side salad and warm, buttered French bread that is sure to satisfy the taste buds of all in attendance.  Tonight's dinner party is sure to be a memorable event, considering how extremely dear to the hearts of my family members each guest is revered.  This will also be a once in a lifetime event that is sure to never happen again.

As we finish our final preparations, the arrival of the first guest is announced by the doorbell. Upon opening the door, I can see that this guest is a handsome young man, perhaps about twenty years of age. He stands just over six feet in height with broad shoulders, dark hair, blue eyes, a warm smile and a little patch of hair just below the center of his bottom lip.  He is dressed in a suit but has managed to combine it with a pair of tennis shoes and a flat--billed ball cap.  The kids immediately rush forward to greet him with great hugs and kisses. I cannot help but to become a little chocked up with the overwhelming emotions of having him here before me. As the tears stream down my face, I reach out and embrace our guest.  His hug is strong, and I am filled with a sense of joy, mixed with remorse, but am grateful for the opportunity to spend this evening with him in our home and at our table.  He is invited in, and we talk as the children run around and incessantly beg him to play games with them.

Shortly after the arrival of our first guest, we are greeted again with a soft rapping sound emanating from the front door, signaling the arrival of our next guest.  This guest is a small and frail elderly woman, no taller than about 5'3". She has white hair that is neatly curled and brushed and is wearing a pink satin-like skirt suit.  She appears to be a little confused and possibly afraid as she stands before me; then she looks to my eyes and suddenly she understands. As we embrace, I can smell that familiar smell of body powder that she once used on a daily basis.  I immediately escort her into my home and introduce her to my family.  She is already quite familiar with our first guest.  After helping her to a seat and ensuring her comfort, we encourage the children to visit with and get to know our new guest.  There are many changes in my life that I want to catch her up on but the most important of them is my family.

A little later, another sound is heard outside.  This time the sound is not one of someone knocking on the front door but rather standing there talking to himself.  I become aware almost immediately that this someone must be our third and final guest for the evening.  He sounds a bit unsure of his choice to attend. I encourage my husband to answer the door this time, being as this guest is more for him than it is for me.  As he opens the door, he is greeted by an elderly man, perhaps in his seventies, whom he knows is a stranger yet seems to be extremely familiar at the same time.  The two men stand motionless for several moments as they gaze upon each other in disbelief. Finally my husband invites our guest inside and introduces him to the family and other guests. With everyone now in attendance, we may all sit and begin dinner.

Throughout dinner the conversations and interactions between our family and guests seemed to flow, just as simply as water flows in a stream. There were so many things to talk about, to learn and to divulge in such a short amount of time. The bonds that were previously formed grew stronger while new bonds were developed.  My great-grandmother, Mildred Clarke (b. May 10, 1910 - d. July 17, 1999) was being given the opportunity to see my current life and know her great great-grandchildren.  My husband was finally being given the opportunity to see and know his estranged father, Gordon Huff (b. April 17, 1931 - d. May 18, 2004). I was blessed with the opportunity to spend one last evening with my nephew/godson, Justin Duplantier (b. October 29, 1990 - d. July 14, 2011), and to hear his recounts of what happened on the day that he decided to take his own life.  Our children were elated to recite stories of things we have done and places we have visited for our guests.  My husband and I were glad for the opportunity to tell the stories of how our family came to be and how we ended up where we are currently in life. My Great-Grandmother and Justin (also her great great-grandson) talked about how they would remain close to one another in the afterlife and help God in watching over their loved ones here on Earth.  Most importantly we were all happy for the opportunity that was being granted to us from God; the opportunity to have that final moment with loved ones we lost.

As our time together drew to an end, we gathered up this odd group together for one last photo.  This was definitely a night worth documenting.  We then said our farewells and watched as they took leave in turn, just as they had arrived.  As they returned to the loving arms and care of our lord we knew that they would forever remain in our hearts and memories.

Say 'NO' to ISD Mergers!

On November 8, 2010 Texas State Representative Fred Brown of Bryan, TX filed Bill HB 106 with the legislature. In this bill, Mr. Brown seeks the 'consolidation of, or detachment and annexation of territory in, certain school districts.' In Layman's terms, Mr. Brown is seeking to disban all of the independent school districts throughout the state, all 1,044 of them, and have them consolidated/merged into single county districts which would result in the state of Texas having 254 ISDs statewide.

In a news feature on CBS local news in Dallas on Monday January 17, 2010, Mr. Brown is quoted as stating "We should have one administration for every county. It doesn’t change the makeup’s of the schools, or the mascots, or the football teams or any of that.” His major claims to this newly proposed district setup is "The total amount that is spent out of the education dollar, 46 cents of every dollar, goes to pay for administration."  He claims that by elimanating what he calls administration duplication he can save the state $1 Billion each year. In another news story by CBS they make reference to him comparing this to the county wide school districts in many other states, including Florida.

Well I'm sorry to say Mr. Brown, but Texas is unlike many other states and the school districts here were designed to work in the best interests of the children of the state of Texas as well as the individual cities and communities.  It is fact that the ISDs are kept small, the student to teacher ratios are low, and the individual district gradings are up because of the individual city's control over thier educational system.  As for the schools, their mascots or their sports not being changed, do you honestly think that these are the important issues in this merger?  Are you so confident and blinded by your proposed bill that you think that this merger would have no effects on the school districts, their teachers, their students or their educational standards?

In Dallas County alone there are fourteen different independent school districts: Carollton-Farmers Branch ISD, Cedar Hill ISD, Coppell ISD, Dallas ISD, Desoto ISD, Duncanville ISD, Garland ISD, Grand Prairie ISD, Highland Park ISD, Irving ISD, Lancaster ISD, Mesquite ISD, Richardson ISD and Sunnyvale ISD.  Dallas ISD alone is home to more than 158,000 students whom are registered within it's 224 campuses, making it the 14th largest public school district in the nation.  If you were to allow the Dallas ISD to absorb the other 13 ISD's within it's county it would more than double (almost triple) those numbers for both the students and the actual school campuses.  Right now in Dallas County there are collectively more than 428,291 students registered and attending one of the 593 campuses located throughout each of the county's ISDs.  Placing all of those campuses as well as such a vast number of students under one administration is absurd. 

Upon further inspection of Bill HB 106 I also noted that Mr. Brown was proposing that ISD's whom lie within two seperate counties would be required to split apart and have the schools within those counties absorbed into the appropriate ISD.  Students residing within the transferred territory would then become residents of the receiving school district.  He also proposed that all title properties within the ISD's would be allocated to the receiving districts as well as any debts.  The receiving districts would also assume jurisdiction of annexed territory that was used for all other purposes by the former ISD.  And again, Mr. Brown, you still do not see how this will affect those involved?  Seriously?!

Already I am foreseeing a loss of jobs, annex buildings being left vacant across the county, school attendence zones being redrawn, county ISD's whom are already overbudgeted and have histories of miss-management of their funds collectively becoming responsible for more debts, and as a result of rezoning class room sizes shifting. I also foresee smaller community schools such as the ones in Sunnyvale, whose student population is 1,156 for grades K-12, being absloved.  Thus resulting in a loss of teachers jobs and students being located to other schools within the district resulting in raising their student to teacher ratios. I can forsee the testing scores of the those schools whom were shifted over to the county districts being lowered as well as their school's state recognition.  This merger would in no way be one of only administrational change.  It would change the entire educational system in Texas as we know it.

In a county were the county ISD is reported as having the highest number of underperforming schools within the state I can not and will not sit by quietly as you push to have the school system that my children attend merged with it.  I will not sit quietly as you ask of us to allow an ISD that is profoundly known for it's controversies, troubles and poor management to take over the ISD that I so proudly enrolled my children into.  This bill, this proposal that has been submitted to Legislature if it passes, I fear will destroy the educational system that Texas has worked so hard for and has become so proud of.

I urge all of my readers, if you live in the state of Texas, to write to Representative Brown; write to your own local state representatives; write to Governor Rick Perry and let them know that we will not accept this.  If Mr. Brown had truly believed in his proposed bill, then why would he send it before legislation without first allowing the people, those whom will be affected by it, to vote on it?  Shouldn't I have a say so in the future of my child's education?  After all, isn't this one of the reasons why most of us live where we do today?

Five years ago when my husband and I relocated our family to Texas we did so because of the education system; the way the individual cities were responsible for their schools instead of the county; the way that it offered our children individual learning opportunities rather than grouped them into numbers and because of the opportunities that this state and the city of Dallas could offer to them because of the education they would receive. We saw this as an opportunity to not only better ourselves but to give our children a chance at the opportunities that we did not have growing up in southern Lousisiana.  Now all of those opportunities are being threatened by this proposed bill.

So again to my readers: 
If you are a parent of a student here in Texas please raise your voice and say 'NO' to this.  I implore you not to let your child become just a number, a nameless face, in the classroom. 

If you are a teacher or a school employee consider that your job could be one that is lost, your benefits may change under the "new" administration, your students may be relocated, and surely your budgets will be cut. Make sure that your State Representative as well as the State Board of Education knows that you are not in favor of this bill passing.

If you are a student consider the fact that if you live in a district where the ISD lies within two counties you will have to attend the appropriately appointed school for your zone in your district.  Consider that now you will have to compete with more than 420,000 other students for a top scoring position in your district.  Consider that your once small class of 15-20 students may now grow in size and you will loose that individualized learning experience that you are now so comfortable with. 

But hey! We should all be okay with this right?  After all, Mr. Brown did assure us that the school name, mascot and football team wouldn't change. Doesn't that just make you feel so much better about it? I should hope not!

I know that I can not speak for everyone within the state of Texas but I do hope that most of you feel as I do when it comes to this bill.  In no way do I see it benefitting our educational system other than in the fact that the state will supposedly save $1 Billion each year and those school districts whom were already so bad off may receive an overall ratings boost thanks to the schools that they will eventualy partner with.

Also, for those of you wondering what happens now that the bill has been filed I have checked and learned that there are seven stages that it has to pass before it can come into law:

Stage 1: File
Stage 2: Out of the House Committee
Stage 3: Voted on by House
Stage 4: Out of Senate Committee
Stage 5: Voted on by Senate
Stage 6: Sent to Governor
Stage 7: Bill becomes law

Right now proposed bill HB 106 has only been filed.  I am confident that if enough of us voice our concern and make it clear that we are not in favor of this change we can prevent it from progressing any further.

Should any of you wish to write to Representative Brown as it pertains to this bill you can do so at the following addresses:

Representative Fred Brown
Room CAP 1N.09, Capitol
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
Phone: (512) 463-0698 Fax: (512) 463-5109

Representative Fred Brown
1920 West Villa Maria Rd.
Suite 303
Bryan, TX 77807
Phone: (979) 822-9797 Fax: (979) 822-7979