Are San Antonio Schools Segregated?

Sadly some things in San Antonio have not changed. I graduated from Harlandale in the 70's. Back then, over a thousand freshmen started in my class, by the time we graduated, we had approx 570 graduating seniors. The high school was in a poor district, we did not even have air conditioning and the teachers struggled to teach in hot class rooms with a circulating fan blowing hot air. Most of the teachers were new and fresh out of college. They taught at Harlandale and then left for more modern schools with more money and basic things such as A/C! Don't get me wrong we also had dedicated teachers who could teach anywhere but chose to teach at our school and help educate this cities poor. Our counselours were few less than a half dozen to help thousands of students who were struggling just to stay in school. Vietnam was going full force and many of my fellow graduates made it by joining the military or working for the government. College was just an unreachable dream for many of my fellow students back then.

Today, Harlandale still has approx 50% drop out rate that my class had back then. The poverty rate at the school is still high and all students qualify for reduced lunches. Today, over 30 years after I attended the majority of students are hispanic.

I have lived all over this country and in Europe and when I returned to San Antonio in 1989, I chose to live on the south side. Sadly I knew the education situation at SAISD and Harlandale ISD, so I struggled but I sent my 3 children to private schools. I felt education was more important than football teams, cheerleading etc.....

I know not everyone can afford to send not just one but three kids to private school. It was hard but it was worth it.

My 26 year old graduated from St Mary's University, my 20 year old is at The University of the Incarnate Word as a sophomore and my son chose to serve his country in the Army.

Yes there are hispanics at Reagan, O'Connor and Alamo Heights, but unfortunately at schools such as Harlandale, Edgewood, Kennedy, Lanier, Burbank etc.... these poor inner city schools are approx 95% hispanic.

Ideally ONE school district with all property taxes being distributed equally would be ideal, but I know it will never happen. There will always be schools with the latest computers, modern buildings, and a larger tax base. There will also continue to be poor schools whose students have less chance of being able to attend college.

There is no easy solution.

Doc, in an odd sought of way they are? Not in the traditional way and not by race or ethnicity. Further more this is not by design. It does exist in that if you live in San Antonio, you can not just attend just any school in San Antonio but can only attend a school with in your school district, and they will only allow you to attend a school that is designated for your neighborhood. We have many very fine private schools in San Antonio, these are only available to families with the means to pay for them. The answer to your question is yes we do,......but there could be an answer that would make the field a much smoother playing field and that would be school vouchers. I can hear folks already saying I don't want to pay to send some kid to private school. I understand where hey are coming from, but I'll bet if a person looked into it real close that they would find that it is cheaper to give school vouchers than to build school to accommodate those that are going to go to school at a private school with a voucher.

Note; Flaws? It is true that there are flaws in this ointment, however Transpitation is not one of them, Issue each of these children a city bus pass. Still cheaper than putting them on a school bus. also it was brought up, 'if it were that good then everyone would want their children to go to a private school.' The fact is that private schools across this country have been educating children for years for less money (lower budget)than the public school system. All of our school districts are with huge bureaucracies private schools do not and they are able to keep there cost down and quality of education up. I will also point out that there are a number of those that you would think would want their children to attend private schools that wouldn't hear of it, they want their son to be the capt of the football team this is just one example but there are more. The other thing that was mentioned is the cost? If our state had done as was preyed upon the people of Texas when they brought out the lottery, ALL proceeds were to go into the education system now most go to fund the lottery and very little of the entire funds go into the education system. I would think also with the oil price having gone up so high for a barrel of oil that our Texas education system should be doing very well as Texas oil goes to support Texas education. The voucher system would acturely lower the over all cost and the more that receive the voucher the lower the cost. There is a real possibility that if the voucher system came about being then maybe the school districts would feel a little bit of pressure and start to make sure that Johnny can read.

Note; This is in no way an indictment of our teachers as some of them are very good and some are not, but in the end it takes more than a teachers salary to make a good school system

School vouchers as proposed by ffperki are not in themselves a bad idea. They are not, however, without significant flaws. Many of the kids who would benefit from the use of the vouchers would still have significant transportation issues trying to get to the private schools in a city the size of San Antonio. Additionally, if given the chance, wouldn't most of the parents of even the kids at the better public schools want them in the private schools if the education was found to be better? There would then be competition for the spots at the private schools, allowing them to raise their tuition, thus negating the kids from the less fortunate households from attending the private schools and sending them back to the schools in their districts.

By the same token, a "robinhood" system which takes money from the higher tax base schools to boost the lower tax base schools is not fair to those who pay higher school taxes.

A personal income tax which taxes based on what you make, and not where you live, and then divides the money to the schools would distribute the money more evenly, but it is the lack of personal income tax that draws many people to Texas.

There is no perfect solution.

they might come here with that physique of suggestions yet they does not be here for terribly long and somebody may well be placing them rapidly, or they may well be shifting away just about as quickly as whilst they have been given here, or have been you speaking regarding the human beings here rejecting them. nearly all of San Antonio are Hispanic, yet frankly maximum of them are in simple terms attempting to get an coaching and incredibly plenty have faith in stay and enable stay.

Hahahahahaha

at first i thought this was a samuel question

LOL... you really miss Sam don't you.