Midway ISD facing 5.5 million dollar budget deficit

17,752 Views | 156 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by chrisbyrum
Limited IQ Redneck in PU
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Top half at least
I have found theres only two ways to go:
Living fast or dying slow.
I dont want to live forever.
But I will live while I'm here.
cowboycwr
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Coyote Bear said:

Marlin3030 said:

From what was said, the VATRE only provided 3 million dollars which is significantly less than what was originally stated.

Also a good portion has been spent on this year's salaries already. The way it's being said makes it sound like they're just shuffling money around.

But a 2% raise is comical, just don't give a raise if that's all you can do.


How is a raise comical? Sometimes the numbers allow what it allows. The entitlement is ridiculous. If you are an MISD teacher and you don't like your raise, no one is handcuffing you and that goes for every job and every industry.
True but it isn't always that simple to "just get another job." In any industry. I have known people that have spent months looking for another job but cannot find one. I have personally been in that spot where I wanted another job, kept applying and was unable to find another one (that didn't require a massive pay cut, relocation, etc.).

For Midway teachers there are not many other districts one can go to and still make the same- most are a massive pay cut.
Limited IQ Redneck in PU
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40 years ago I looked around for my first teaching job and was surprised to find Midway was one of the lowest paying district in the county. Temple, Waco and McGregor all paid a chunk more. I didnt talk to any others but was told Midway was the lowest. The logic was at that time teachers were willing to be paid less for getting to work in the best school in the county.

Now when I read what you said bout teachers leaving Midway taking a pay cut I didnt believe it. Midway is still a good district IMO, but it isnt head and shoulders over the rest. Houston pays a lot more. Schools in McLennan county also pay more. Midway is at or near the bottom.

District
'21-'22 starting pay
'22-'23 starting pay
Waco ISD
$50,250
$51,475
Temple ISD
$50,900
$52,500
Midway ISD
$46,100
$47,100
Belton ISD
$51,400
$53,500
Killeen ISD
$52,000
$56,160
Copperas Cove ISD
$50,000
$53,000

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-places-to-teach/c/mclennan-county-tx/
I have found theres only two ways to go:
Living fast or dying slow.
I dont want to live forever.
But I will live while I'm here.
cowboycwr
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Limited IQ Redneck in PU said:

40 years ago I looked around for my first teaching job and was surprised to find Midway was one of the lowest paying district in the county. Temple, Waco and McGregor all paid a chunk more. I didnt talk to any others but was told Midway was the lowest. The logic was at that time teachers were willing to be paid less for getting to work in the best school in the county.

Now when I read what you said bout teachers leaving Midway taking a pay cut I didnt believe it. Midway is still a good district IMO, but it isnt head and shoulders over the rest. Houston pays a lot more. Schools in McLennan county also pay more. Midway is at or near the bottom.

District
'21-'22 starting pay
'22-'23 starting pay
Waco ISD
$50,250
$51,475
Temple ISD
$50,900
$52,500
Midway ISD
$46,100
$47,100
Belton ISD
$51,400
$53,500
Killeen ISD
$52,000
$56,160
Copperas Cove ISD
$50,000
$53,000

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-places-to-teach/c/mclennan-county-tx/
Midway is at or near the bottom of those select schools.

But the majority of teachers leaving Midway or wanting to leave Midway are not going to drive to Temple, Belton, Killeen or Copperas Cove. I would bet the vast majority would want to stay in the Waco area.

Most don't want to go to WISD and deal with those headaches.

But when you look at the schools just in the immediate area and county they are at the top. Below is pay scale for this year from each districts webpage:

Midway- $48,400
McGregor- 42,000
Lorena- 44,100
Robinson- 46,000
La Vega- 48,940
Connally- 46,700
Gatesville- 40,160
Moody-44,200
Bruceville Eddy- No current pay scale on their site
China Spring-41,000
Waco- 52,975
Bosqueville- 35,660
Gholson- No pay information on their site
West- 44,500
Reisel- 43,000
Oglesby- 36,000
Axtell- 41,487
Crawford- 41,200
Hallsburg- 40,000


So just in the most immediate are they are third highest. Even if you add in the other 4 Midway is still towards the top and as I said many teachers are probably not wanting to drive long distances to work or to work for those districts as they pay higher due to more issues/ trouble getting and keeping teachers.

SteamedHams
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My wife taught in WISD and then Midway, and she'd sooner take a nap at the bottom of the Brazos than ever teach at WISD again. It was a miserable, miserable existence. Even though she took a 2% pay cut to go to Midway, her quality of life octupled on day one and never looked back.
chrisbyrum
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SteamedHams said:

My wife taught in WISD and then Midway, and she'd sooner take a nap at the bottom of the Brazos than ever teach at WISD again. It was a miserable, miserable existence. Even though she took a 2% pay cut to go to Midway, her quality of life octupled on day one and never looked back.
I completely understand, I teach now in Grand Prairie. I gave up a job in HR where I made 150K to go back to teaching, I love it. The pay cut is worth it now that I do not have to deal with 2AM phone calls and unruly employees. Sure I have less money, but I am 100 times happier.
Harrison Bergeron
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My wife is a teacher (not at Midway). My quick thoughts:
- Agree the athletic spending is crazy ... some Texas high schools have nicer facilities than the Buffalo Bills or former Oakland Raiders
- Like other institutions, the amount of school administrators has exploded - the number of counselors and assistance principals continue to grow
- The Administrative bureaucracy has exploded - lots of people making high six figures working at Central Admin that add zero value
- Traditional classes like foreign languages have been replaced by grievance studies, which are pointless

As noted earlier, no one spends more and gets less than American public schools.
chrisbyrum
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Harrison Bergeron said:

My wife is a teacher (not at Midway). My quick thoughts:
- Agree the athletic spending is crazy ... some Texas high schools have nicer facilities than the Buffalo Bills or former Oakland Raiders
- Like other institutions, the amount of school administrators has exploded - the number of counselors and assistance principals continue to grow
- The Administrative bureaucracy has exploded - lots of people making high six figures working at Central Admin that add zero value
- Traditional classes like foreign languages have been replaced by grievance studies, which are pointless

As noted earlier, no one spends more and gets less than American public schools.
I agree with everything except the part about foreign languages. We have not replaced those with any grievance based studies. Keep in mind the state dictates what students have to have to graduate. If I don't teach what state provides my test scores will not be good. I've said it before, want to find a woke teacher look at their test scores, if they are consistently bad you know. The amount spent at Athletics and Admin is mind boggling. We also have been given unfunded mandates by the state that have to be fulfilled at district expense. The result is less and less spent in classroom and on actual education. One way to improve education is to get more highly qualified individuals in the classroom, only way to do that is increase pay. Yes some money could be moved around. I get a bit frustrated because I think public schools get blamed for a lot in Texas, some deserved but not all. Inner city schools give us all a bad name. We need leaders who are going to come up with real solutions, not rhetoric. Lot of good things happening in Texas, but we need to focus on public schools. We will be even better with an educated work force. I love teaching. It's my calling, but so many issues to deal with.
Limited IQ Redneck in PU
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Well said Chris. Wish I could star it twice.
I have found theres only two ways to go:
Living fast or dying slow.
I dont want to live forever.
But I will live while I'm here.
Harrison Bergeron
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chrisbyrum said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

My wife is a teacher (not at Midway). My quick thoughts:
- Agree the athletic spending is crazy ... some Texas high schools have nicer facilities than the Buffalo Bills or former Oakland Raiders
- Like other institutions, the amount of school administrators has exploded - the number of counselors and assistance principals continue to grow
- The Administrative bureaucracy has exploded - lots of people making high six figures working at Central Admin that add zero value
- Traditional classes like foreign languages have been replaced by grievance studies, which are pointless

As noted earlier, no one spends more and gets less than American public schools.
I agree with everything except the part about foreign languages. We have not replaced those with any grievance based studies. Keep in mind the state dictates what students have to have to graduate. If I don't teach what state provides my test scores will not be good. I've said it before, want to find a woke teacher look at their test scores, if they are consistently bad you know. The amount spent at Athletics and Admin is mind boggling. We also have been given unfunded mandates by the state that have to be fulfilled at district expense. The result is less and less spent in classroom and on actual education. One way to improve education is to get more highly qualified individuals in the classroom, only way to do that is increase pay. Yes some money could be moved around. I get a bit frustrated because I think public schools get blamed for a lot in Texas, some deserved but not all. Inner city schools give us all a bad name. We need leaders who are going to come up with real solutions, not rhetoric. Lot of good things happening in Texas, but we need to focus on public schools. We will be even better with an educated work force. I love teaching. It's my calling, but so many issues to deal with.
Glad to hear. Using public schools as political tools is maybe the single biggest challenge to our kids' success outside of the insane growth of athletics-administration.

Seems like the further schools move their focus from educating students to indoctrination, academic scores suffer.

Not sure if you face this, but Mrs. HB also spends insane amounts of time "accommodating" so many students ... everything from arbitrary racial quotas to basic inability to take tests. The inmates' parents' continue to run the asylum.
chrisbyrum
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Harrison Bergeron said:

chrisbyrum said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

My wife is a teacher (not at Midway). My quick thoughts:
- Agree the athletic spending is crazy ... some Texas high schools have nicer facilities than the Buffalo Bills or former Oakland Raiders
- Like other institutions, the amount of school administrators has exploded - the number of counselors and assistance principals continue to grow
- The Administrative bureaucracy has exploded - lots of people making high six figures working at Central Admin that add zero value
- Traditional classes like foreign languages have been replaced by grievance studies, which are pointless

As noted earlier, no one spends more and gets less than American public schools.
I agree with everything except the part about foreign languages. We have not replaced those with any grievance based studies. Keep in mind the state dictates what students have to have to graduate. If I don't teach what state provides my test scores will not be good. I've said it before, want to find a woke teacher look at their test scores, if they are consistently bad you know. The amount spent at Athletics and Admin is mind boggling. We also have been given unfunded mandates by the state that have to be fulfilled at district expense. The result is less and less spent in classroom and on actual education. One way to improve education is to get more highly qualified individuals in the classroom, only way to do that is increase pay. Yes some money could be moved around. I get a bit frustrated because I think public schools get blamed for a lot in Texas, some deserved but not all. Inner city schools give us all a bad name. We need leaders who are going to come up with real solutions, not rhetoric. Lot of good things happening in Texas, but we need to focus on public schools. We will be even better with an educated work force. I love teaching. It's my calling, but so many issues to deal with.
Glad to hear. Using public schools as political tools is maybe the single biggest challenge to our kids' success outside of the insane growth of athletics-administration.

Seems like the further schools move their focus from educating students to indoctrination, academic scores suffer.

Not sure if you face this, but Mrs. HB also spends insane amounts of time "accommodating" so many students ... everything from arbitrary racial quotas to basic inability to take tests. The inmates' parents' continue to run the asylum.


I don't deal with any racial quotas(that I am aware of). I do have accommodations to deal with and the amount of testing we do is insane. I think we spend 30 days a year just testing. I really don't have parent issues and I am not sure why honestly. But I am amazed at when a parent will send me an email saying we have just decided to go away for two weeks. Can you send me all their assignments. I get taking a trip and I do plan ahead so I can send assignments. Rarely do they get completed. Then the kid is behind and struggling to pass. Then they ask me why is my kid failing.

My opinion. But for the most part public education is still decent. But tons of room for improvement. But we need government officials who are serious about it and look at it fairly. The politics over public education needs to end. But I know better.

We need to go back to teaching.
Jackson Bear
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Harrison Bergeron said:

My wife is a teacher (not at Midway). My quick thoughts:
- Agree the athletic spending is crazy ... some Texas high schools have nicer facilities than the Buffalo Bills or former Oakland Raiders
- Like other institutions, the amount of school administrators has exploded - the number of counselors and assistance principals continue to grow
- The Administrative bureaucracy has exploded - lots of people making high six figures working at Central Admin that add zero value
- Traditional classes like foreign languages have been replaced by grievance studies, which are pointless

As noted earlier, no one spends more and gets less than American public schools.
The whole woke teacher thing is the biggest myth in the world, particularly in Texas. We have to teach what the state says to teach. No foreign language has been replaced in McLennan County. If fact, students have to have so many credits in many different areas to graduate.
Limited IQ Redneck in PU
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Thamk you Jackson.
I have found theres only two ways to go:
Living fast or dying slow.
I dont want to live forever.
But I will live while I'm here.
cowboycwr
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Harrison Bergeron said:

chrisbyrum said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

My wife is a teacher (not at Midway). My quick thoughts:
- Agree the athletic spending is crazy ... some Texas high schools have nicer facilities than the Buffalo Bills or former Oakland Raiders
- Like other institutions, the amount of school administrators has exploded - the number of counselors and assistance principals continue to grow
- The Administrative bureaucracy has exploded - lots of people making high six figures working at Central Admin that add zero value
- Traditional classes like foreign languages have been replaced by grievance studies, which are pointless

As noted earlier, no one spends more and gets less than American public schools.
I agree with everything except the part about foreign languages. We have not replaced those with any grievance based studies. Keep in mind the state dictates what students have to have to graduate. If I don't teach what state provides my test scores will not be good. I've said it before, want to find a woke teacher look at their test scores, if they are consistently bad you know. The amount spent at Athletics and Admin is mind boggling. We also have been given unfunded mandates by the state that have to be fulfilled at district expense. The result is less and less spent in classroom and on actual education. One way to improve education is to get more highly qualified individuals in the classroom, only way to do that is increase pay. Yes some money could be moved around. I get a bit frustrated because I think public schools get blamed for a lot in Texas, some deserved but not all. Inner city schools give us all a bad name. We need leaders who are going to come up with real solutions, not rhetoric. Lot of good things happening in Texas, but we need to focus on public schools. We will be even better with an educated work force. I love teaching. It's my calling, but so many issues to deal with.
Glad to hear. Using public schools as political tools is maybe the single biggest challenge to our kids' success outside of the insane growth of athletics-administration.

Seems like the further schools move their focus from educating students to indoctrination, academic scores suffer.

Not sure if you face this, but Mrs. HB also spends insane amounts of time "accommodating" so many students ... everything from arbitrary racial quotas to basic inability to take tests. The inmates' parents' continue to run the asylum.
Just curious what you mean by racial quotas for the classroom?

I have seen them applied at district or whole school level like for example a school or district worried about how many African American students are being put in In School Suspension, Out of school Suspension, Alternative school, or expelled. OR for how many kids are labeled GT, SPED, etc. But never in the classroom.

cowboycwr
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chrisbyrum said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

chrisbyrum said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

My wife is a teacher (not at Midway). My quick thoughts:
- Agree the athletic spending is crazy ... some Texas high schools have nicer facilities than the Buffalo Bills or former Oakland Raiders
- Like other institutions, the amount of school administrators has exploded - the number of counselors and assistance principals continue to grow
- The Administrative bureaucracy has exploded - lots of people making high six figures working at Central Admin that add zero value
- Traditional classes like foreign languages have been replaced by grievance studies, which are pointless

As noted earlier, no one spends more and gets less than American public schools.
I agree with everything except the part about foreign languages. We have not replaced those with any grievance based studies. Keep in mind the state dictates what students have to have to graduate. If I don't teach what state provides my test scores will not be good. I've said it before, want to find a woke teacher look at their test scores, if they are consistently bad you know. The amount spent at Athletics and Admin is mind boggling. We also have been given unfunded mandates by the state that have to be fulfilled at district expense. The result is less and less spent in classroom and on actual education. One way to improve education is to get more highly qualified individuals in the classroom, only way to do that is increase pay. Yes some money could be moved around. I get a bit frustrated because I think public schools get blamed for a lot in Texas, some deserved but not all. Inner city schools give us all a bad name. We need leaders who are going to come up with real solutions, not rhetoric. Lot of good things happening in Texas, but we need to focus on public schools. We will be even better with an educated work force. I love teaching. It's my calling, but so many issues to deal with.
Glad to hear. Using public schools as political tools is maybe the single biggest challenge to our kids' success outside of the insane growth of athletics-administration.

Seems like the further schools move their focus from educating students to indoctrination, academic scores suffer.

Not sure if you face this, but Mrs. HB also spends insane amounts of time "accommodating" so many students ... everything from arbitrary racial quotas to basic inability to take tests. The inmates' parents' continue to run the asylum.


I don't deal with any racial quotas(that I am aware of). I do have accommodations to deal with and the amount of testing we do is insane. I think we spend 30 days a year just testing. I really don't have parent issues and I am not sure why honestly. But I am amazed at when a parent will send me an email saying we have just decided to go away for two weeks. Can you send me all their assignments. I get taking a trip and I do plan ahead so I can send assignments. Rarely do they get completed. Then the kid is behind and struggling to pass. Then they ask me why is my kid failing.

My opinion. But for the most part public education is still decent. But tons of room for improvement. But we need government officials who are serious about it and look at it fairly. The politics over public education needs to end. But I know better.

We need to go back to teaching.

Well said.

Also, I would add in the BS around failing grades. It seems almost every district has some sort of standard they apply like no more zeros can be given, unlimited time to turn in assignments, unlimited attempts to retake a test to get a passing grade, etc.

When I was still teaching I had an argument with a district admin in the district I was at about how I thought a 0 was a valid grade. I taught government so she used not paying taxes as an example saying something like if you don't pay you still have to do it. I said yes but you pay a fine, unless you ask for extra time (apply for an extension) and that if you just never do it you have fines to pay and could go to jail. She said no one has ever gone to jail for not paying taxes so I replied with the most famous case, Al Capone. I told her example was flawed because not paying taxes results in extra punishments like fines. Not turning in work on time doesn't equal a negative score and turning in an assignment weeks after the due date should not allow that student to get the same grade as someone that turned it in on time.
cowboycwr
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Jackson Bear said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

My wife is a teacher (not at Midway). My quick thoughts:
- Agree the athletic spending is crazy ... some Texas high schools have nicer facilities than the Buffalo Bills or former Oakland Raiders
- Like other institutions, the amount of school administrators has exploded - the number of counselors and assistance principals continue to grow
- The Administrative bureaucracy has exploded - lots of people making high six figures working at Central Admin that add zero value
- Traditional classes like foreign languages have been replaced by grievance studies, which are pointless

As noted earlier, no one spends more and gets less than American public schools.
The whole woke teacher thing is the biggest myth in the world, particularly in Texas. We have to teach what the state says to teach. No foreign language has been replaced in McLennan County. If fact, students have to have so many credits in many different areas to graduate.
False.

There are plenty of examples of woke teachers on any of the social media platforms, news stories, etc. IN TEXAS.

And it also depends on if any of the students in the class or administration catch on to a teacher not teaching what the state says teach.

I overheard a fellow teacher once claiming that all the red areas on the map were uneducated white rednecks with racist views.

I have also overheard a teacher teach that the south won the civil war. That the north was the one for slavery.

I have also seen teachers do the old school 80s or 90s thing of teach what they want, hand out worksheets and sit on their phone. Granted it was a non tested subject where the admin never visited because all the focus was on raising that school's test scores.

But we could post a ton of videos of liberal, woke, (or whatever term you want to use) teachers in Texas.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/texas-teacher-bragging-indoctrinating-youth-interrogates-middle-school-kids-nonbinary-identity

https://texasscorecard.com/local/austin-elementary-school-teacher-brags-about-sexualizing-students/

And those are just two examples.
chrisbyrum
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cowboycwr said:

Jackson Bear said:

Harrison Bergeron said:

My wife is a teacher (not at Midway). My quick thoughts:
- Agree the athletic spending is crazy ... some Texas high schools have nicer facilities than the Buffalo Bills or former Oakland Raiders
- Like other institutions, the amount of school administrators has exploded - the number of counselors and assistance principals continue to grow
- The Administrative bureaucracy has exploded - lots of people making high six figures working at Central Admin that add zero value
- Traditional classes like foreign languages have been replaced by grievance studies, which are pointless

As noted earlier, no one spends more and gets less than American public schools.
The whole woke teacher thing is the biggest myth in the world, particularly in Texas. We have to teach what the state says to teach. No foreign language has been replaced in McLennan County. If fact, students have to have so many credits in many different areas to graduate.
False.

There are plenty of examples of woke teachers on any of the social media platforms, news stories, etc. IN TEXAS.

And it also depends on if any of the students in the class or administration catch on to a teacher not teaching what the state says teach.

I overheard a fellow teacher once claiming that all the red areas on the map were uneducated white rednecks with racist views.

I have also overheard a teacher teach that the south won the civil war. That the north was the one for slavery.

I have also seen teachers do the old school 80s or 90s thing of teach what they want, hand out worksheets and sit on their phone. Granted it was a non tested subject where the admin never visited because all the focus was on raising that school's test scores.

But we could post a ton of videos of liberal, woke, (or whatever term you want to use) teachers in Texas.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/texas-teacher-bragging-indoctrinating-youth-interrogates-middle-school-kids-nonbinary-identity

https://texasscorecard.com/local/austin-elementary-school-teacher-brags-about-sexualizing-students/

And those are just two examples.
They are definitely there, but groups do a good job of making news out of the few there are. I can tell you in my school less than 10% of Teachers are a member of any teacher organization, Most teachers play by the rules, and we are still political pawns because of the few who don't.
 
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