re: Snow day

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He is no BS on how teachers keep getting screwed. He’s also a former teacher

Teachers act a lot like the Police Union. They like to use public sympathy to make noise for their personal benefit. Having worked in the education sector, I can tell you that the laziest/worst teachers are usually the loudest ones. They're also the ones paying union dues (which explains why
they're never fired). For these teachers, it's rarely ever about the kids and almost always about their own personal politics.

The truth is that a lot of the problems we see in our education system start in the home. There is no amount of money that will make up for shitty parenting. Paying teachers six figures isn't going to change that. Shiny new buildings with new iPads isn't going to change that. Paying for teacher assistants isn't going to change that. Some of the smartest cats I met at A&M were home schooled. And the overwhelming majority of Aggies I met came from stable homes with parents that cared.

Unfortunately, it is not politically correct to call it like it is. A lot of parents treat schools like glorified day care centers. And the teacher's union knows this. Instead of calling a spade a spade, they would rather take advantage of our crumbling society and demand more money instead.

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Yep. There are many great teachers who are selfless and don't make nearly what they are worth. The problem is the system that pays them and that they are bought into rewards tenure not performance and they are constantly dragged down by the lowest common denominator. The irony of course is that the best teachers often put money as a low priority for what motivates them. They would rather have more control over their classroom and what they can teach and to cut the bureaucracy (where massive amounts of the money goes). Unfortunately many don't see it and those who do are a minority or won't stand up to those who love a system that is easy for a mediocre teacher to abuse.

Of course the other little secret that no one seems to talk about is there is actually an inverse relationship to money spent per pupil and academic performance. If you look at these supposedly rich kid middle and high schools almost all of them spend far LESS per pupil than poor schools. Sometimes half. So you see the media constantly hammer on how much Texas spends per student but they put no context. They bury the data and focus on "Texas spends 36th in the Nation per capita" but they sure as hell don't want to talk about how often a poor performing teacher at a crap school makes more than a great teacher at a "rich kid" school. Realize that odds are if you are the child of parents who paid $20,000 a year in property taxes your school likely spends far less on you than an illegal alien in the Valley in terms of education.

The reality is you could pick up kids in a limo to take them to a palace of a school with every technological piece of equipment available and teachers that make a mint and it won't much matter if their parents (or often parent or "parent") DGAF, they have no discipline and no values. Oh, and the good teachers also know that. They would take a group of kids that actually have some manners and want to learn over an extra $10k to work with kids that have no interest in being there. Problem is you can't fix that with legislation and it requires a lot of uncomfortable conversations to deal with it.

For a Home Generator? Seems about right. I think Generac had a long wait-list that keeps growing every month.

Yeah having been through extended power outages now during an ice storm and a major hurricane I’ll take this all day. Only part that sucked was stressing about my pipes especially when it started to get closer to freezing in the house. At least I could layer up and sleep.

No power with 95 degree heat outside is the WOAT