The Battle of the Parades and Passing the Buck
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon
There is a story making the rounds on local social media pages. No, I'm not talking about who will be appointed to the BISD school board to replace a recently resigned board member — we'll find out who that is soon enough. I'm talking about a battle brewing over who is going to get to perform in the upcoming Charro Days parades.
Charro Days parades have historically been divided into three days and have three distinct designations. Thursday's parade is the Children's Parade (and on this year's Charro Days event calendar listed as the BISD Children's Charro Days Parade), Friday's parade is the Illuminated Night Parade, and Saturday's parade is the Grand International Parade.
The Brownsville Independent School District is the 19th largest school district by enrollment in the State of Texas. The district has 57 schools. Because of the number of schools, the district has to rotate what schools appear in the Charro Days parade — not every school in BISD gets to march or dance in the parade every year.
Late yesterday afternoon, the Beacon began hearing stories that the BISD would not be allowing local charter schools to march in Thursday's Children's Parade.
Facebook groups soon thereafter began erupting with people complaining about the decision. For the record, there has been no official press release put out by the school district. This is a story that is being circulated on several different Facebook groups and pages. There are those who are making posts corroborating the story, but they are not providing any links to any official statement released by the district or by the Charro Days, Inc. press office.
About as close as we can get to any sort of confirmation is a post on the Charro Days Fiesta Facebook page saying if an organization or business wants to appear in Friday or Saturday's parade, they can stop by to fill out paperwork at the Charro Days, Inc. office on Elizabeth Street. They are also referring any questions or concerns on "all other parades, including the BISD Children's Parade held on Thursday," to the Brownsville Independent School District. It appears Charro Days, Inc. wants to distance themselves from the decisions the district may, or may not, be making in regards to Thursday's parade.
According to the Facebook posts, the issue seems to be the district is not allowing charter schools to march in the parade unless they are accompanied by their respective marching band. If they do not have a school band, the only way they would be allowed to participate is if they appeared on a parade float. Another story states charter schools have been excluded from participating in the parade altogether.
Complaints further go on to state this only applies to charter schools. They argue other private schools and youth organizations are still allowed to participate.
According to the Charro Days, Inc. website, Friday's Illuminated Night Parade is being sponsored by IDEA Public Schools.
I keep saying this, and I will continue to say this throughout the article — Charro Days, Inc. and the Brownsville Independent School District have not confirmed anything about excluding charter schools from Thursday's parade. I say this because I railed against publishing stories based on hearsay and rumor in my last article. However, I believe I have accurately described this as an article based on stories being released on local social media pages, and I believe the opinions being expressed deserve attention.
Several people have begun expressing their displeasure with the decision if it is, in fact, true. Many of those posting online, who I can safely assume are parents of students attending charter schools, are saying the decision is not fair and their children should be allowed to march in the children's parade. Others are saying the decision was haphazardly made and was a random cracking of the whip, since the only schools excluded are charter schools and other private schools are still allowed to participate.
Let's start with the obvious. First, life isn't fair. But more importantly, things aren't fair for the students who do attend BISD schools. Not all schools are showcased in every Charro Days parade. The parade would probably last an entire day if all 57 schools participated. If anything, the district should probably do more to limit the amount of non-BISD organizations and schools and allow all BISD schools a chance to participate.
Perhaps one solution would be to rotate schools within the parade itself. Have some schools dance and perform, have others march with their marching bands, and have others participate by designing a parade float. maybe "all star" dance teams or bands can be formed and have different schools from the different clusters perform together. There is no reason why each school can't be represented in one way, shape, or form.
Second, and probably the more glaring argument is this — there are two other parades where charter schools are allowed to participate. And, wait for it, one of them is sponsored by IDEA Public Schools! If ever there was a showcase for a charter school to march, it certainly has to be the parade that a large charter school conglomerate sponsors. Friday's Illuminated Night Parade's titular sponsor is a group of charter schools. I could think of no better parade for every charter school in Brownsville to be in.
Finally, I don't see why charter schools would want to participate in an event that is sponsored by the sub-par, inferior, lackluster, and pathetic Brownsville Independent School District. For years, we've heard how charter schools are so much better than traditional public schools. I've heard, and seen, charter school employees recruitment pitches at the mall and at the flea market — come to our charter school, your child will do better, and all our graduates go to college.
The same parents who are crying foul are the same ones who ridicule and disrespect the district and their employees. Out of one side of your mouth you're saying the district is pathetic and charter schools are far superior, and out of the other you're whining about how unfair life is because the pathetic organization's parade isn't letting your child march.
You can't have it both ways. You can't spit in someone's face then expect them to wipe it off, smile at you, and embrace you as their best friend.
Of course your charter schools look better than traditional schools. Traditional schools would look as good as a charter school does on paper if they were allowed to cherry-pick their students and kick out underperforming students. Charter schools don't have the myriad of special education programs traditional schools have. Charter schools don't have the resources to teach all the different types of learners there are in the world. Charter schools turn away the unwanted and undesirable students. Charter schools operate more like corporations and businesses rather than institutions of learning and education.
My suggestion to charter schools is keep being better than traditional schools all on your own. Don't worry about not being allowed to march in Thursday's parade.
It probably isn't good enough for you all, anyway.
- Signed, a proud graduate of traditional public schools in the Brownsville Independent School District (from Homer Hanna High School — The Brownsville High School), and a proud chubby kid holding Morningside Elementary's Charro Days banner in the mid 1980's (man, those white pants were a tight fit!).
There is a story making the rounds on local social media pages. No, I'm not talking about who will be appointed to the BISD school board to replace a recently resigned board member — we'll find out who that is soon enough. I'm talking about a battle brewing over who is going to get to perform in the upcoming Charro Days parades.
Charro Days parades have historically been divided into three days and have three distinct designations. Thursday's parade is the Children's Parade (and on this year's Charro Days event calendar listed as the BISD Children's Charro Days Parade), Friday's parade is the Illuminated Night Parade, and Saturday's parade is the Grand International Parade.
The Brownsville Independent School District is the 19th largest school district by enrollment in the State of Texas. The district has 57 schools. Because of the number of schools, the district has to rotate what schools appear in the Charro Days parade — not every school in BISD gets to march or dance in the parade every year.
Late yesterday afternoon, the Beacon began hearing stories that the BISD would not be allowing local charter schools to march in Thursday's Children's Parade.
Facebook groups soon thereafter began erupting with people complaining about the decision. For the record, there has been no official press release put out by the school district. This is a story that is being circulated on several different Facebook groups and pages. There are those who are making posts corroborating the story, but they are not providing any links to any official statement released by the district or by the Charro Days, Inc. press office.
About as close as we can get to any sort of confirmation is a post on the Charro Days Fiesta Facebook page saying if an organization or business wants to appear in Friday or Saturday's parade, they can stop by to fill out paperwork at the Charro Days, Inc. office on Elizabeth Street. They are also referring any questions or concerns on "all other parades, including the BISD Children's Parade held on Thursday," to the Brownsville Independent School District. It appears Charro Days, Inc. wants to distance themselves from the decisions the district may, or may not, be making in regards to Thursday's parade.
According to the Facebook posts, the issue seems to be the district is not allowing charter schools to march in the parade unless they are accompanied by their respective marching band. If they do not have a school band, the only way they would be allowed to participate is if they appeared on a parade float. Another story states charter schools have been excluded from participating in the parade altogether.
Complaints further go on to state this only applies to charter schools. They argue other private schools and youth organizations are still allowed to participate.
According to the Charro Days, Inc. website, Friday's Illuminated Night Parade is being sponsored by IDEA Public Schools.
I keep saying this, and I will continue to say this throughout the article — Charro Days, Inc. and the Brownsville Independent School District have not confirmed anything about excluding charter schools from Thursday's parade. I say this because I railed against publishing stories based on hearsay and rumor in my last article. However, I believe I have accurately described this as an article based on stories being released on local social media pages, and I believe the opinions being expressed deserve attention.
Several people have begun expressing their displeasure with the decision if it is, in fact, true. Many of those posting online, who I can safely assume are parents of students attending charter schools, are saying the decision is not fair and their children should be allowed to march in the children's parade. Others are saying the decision was haphazardly made and was a random cracking of the whip, since the only schools excluded are charter schools and other private schools are still allowed to participate.
Let's start with the obvious. First, life isn't fair. But more importantly, things aren't fair for the students who do attend BISD schools. Not all schools are showcased in every Charro Days parade. The parade would probably last an entire day if all 57 schools participated. If anything, the district should probably do more to limit the amount of non-BISD organizations and schools and allow all BISD schools a chance to participate.
Perhaps one solution would be to rotate schools within the parade itself. Have some schools dance and perform, have others march with their marching bands, and have others participate by designing a parade float. maybe "all star" dance teams or bands can be formed and have different schools from the different clusters perform together. There is no reason why each school can't be represented in one way, shape, or form.
Second, and probably the more glaring argument is this — there are two other parades where charter schools are allowed to participate. And, wait for it, one of them is sponsored by IDEA Public Schools! If ever there was a showcase for a charter school to march, it certainly has to be the parade that a large charter school conglomerate sponsors. Friday's Illuminated Night Parade's titular sponsor is a group of charter schools. I could think of no better parade for every charter school in Brownsville to be in.
Finally, I don't see why charter schools would want to participate in an event that is sponsored by the sub-par, inferior, lackluster, and pathetic Brownsville Independent School District. For years, we've heard how charter schools are so much better than traditional public schools. I've heard, and seen, charter school employees recruitment pitches at the mall and at the flea market — come to our charter school, your child will do better, and all our graduates go to college.
The same parents who are crying foul are the same ones who ridicule and disrespect the district and their employees. Out of one side of your mouth you're saying the district is pathetic and charter schools are far superior, and out of the other you're whining about how unfair life is because the pathetic organization's parade isn't letting your child march.
You can't have it both ways. You can't spit in someone's face then expect them to wipe it off, smile at you, and embrace you as their best friend.
Of course your charter schools look better than traditional schools. Traditional schools would look as good as a charter school does on paper if they were allowed to cherry-pick their students and kick out underperforming students. Charter schools don't have the myriad of special education programs traditional schools have. Charter schools don't have the resources to teach all the different types of learners there are in the world. Charter schools turn away the unwanted and undesirable students. Charter schools operate more like corporations and businesses rather than institutions of learning and education.
My suggestion to charter schools is keep being better than traditional schools all on your own. Don't worry about not being allowed to march in Thursday's parade.
It probably isn't good enough for you all, anyway.
- Signed, a proud graduate of traditional public schools in the Brownsville Independent School District (from Homer Hanna High School — The Brownsville High School), and a proud chubby kid holding Morningside Elementary's Charro Days banner in the mid 1980's (man, those white pants were a tight fit!).
IDEA schools are a scam! Plain and simple, Let them take in any and all kids and have to find various ways to educate them before they take our tax dollars.
ReplyDeleteWhile I wouldn't go as far as calling them an outright scam, I absolutely respect your opinion and I'm not trying to change your mind, but charter schools definitely don't play by the same rules as traditional schools do. When any traditional public schoolteacher's salary is plastered all over the internet for all to see, and their every move subject to scrutiny, traditional schools and charter schools are definitely not on the same level.
Delete