My son, the fútbol player, had a "home" game today. It was a 35 minute drive to gain the "home field advantage. In other words, we played on the other team's field a second time. This time, however, the Pflash (!) was the home team. Outside of a coin toss, I'm not sure what it means in this league.
The first time we played this team, I sat near the field on the rubber particle track that encircles the field. Since I wasn't the first to get there, others had already been moved to the outside of the track. Apparently, my folding chair is a threat to the track. Oh, well. None of the Pflugerville gang seemed to mind, since the outcome of this came was pretty certain. My son plays for a very good team, and the Westlake Makos are not a good team.
They do have a sponsor, however: iMeet. The hotlink is there for your viewing pleasure. I haven't visited the site yet. These kids are 13. They have a corporate sponsor.
Did you notice the mention of the rubber particle track. Yep. That track circles a field of high-quality artificial grass. In fact, the space we were told to sit on outside the track is also the kind of "Astroturf 2.0" you see on college campuses and NFL stadia. Personal trainers worked with teenagers throughout the game on the track. The field is lined for American football, soccer, and lacrosse (which I am CONSTANTLY told is taking off in this country). Nobody bothered to put bleachers in the field area. Thus, the chairs. The restroom is a portable toilet. If you use it, you'll note it overlooks the high quality tennis-court setup. Here is (from what I can tell) a mother following a teacher to the court with two shopping carts full of tennis balls. The daughter of about 7 years is the one getting the lesson.
Oh, one thing I should mention: we were at Hill Country MIDDLE School.
As I understand it, then, living in the Eanes school district means your 6th grader can play tennis.
The week after the first Pflash-Makos game, my son and I traveled to Manor, Texas to play the Vikingos. That ragtag group of kids ran the team in Spanish. Their uniforms were not quite "uniform," and they all had shirts with team patches from the Monterrey Rayados (translated vesion here). They might have found a sale. My guess is there is no official relationship with the Mexican Premiere League team; they likely just follow the team (like I do). The field, and surrounding park, were beautiful in Manor. Travis County did a nice job. But the fields were miles from any housing. I drove through the Manor housing areas. Lower-middle-class is a charitable label for their lives.
In school districts like Manor and United (Laredo), air conditioning units fail repeatedly. I remember in Istrouma High School (Baton Rouge, LA) used to have buckets placed around classrooms. When it rained, the buckets filled with water and got replaced. It's still awful there.
There are no rubberized tracks at middle schools in Laredo or Pflugerville. I'm not sure how you justify that kind of opulence while other students would be doing well to attend school in a building that has glass panes in the windows, like the kids faced in Washington, DC for years. How is a kid in Anacostia (DC) supposed to learn at the same pace as a kid that a 5 million dollar athletic complex attached to their middle school? Some kids are at home plate starting with an 0-2 count; others are born on third base.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires public schools to provide a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Perhaps the term, appropriate, needs to be a little more clear. Requirements should apply to everyone first. After everybody has an "equality of opportunity" should we be adding "spinning rims on some gold Jet Ski."
Westlake High School is where kids at Hill Country go for high school. Drew Brees is from Westlake. So are a million other amazing kids, as told by the Austin American Statesman. If the "Chaps" find their butts with both hands and a flashlight, it makes the Sunday sports section front page.
Meanwhile, the "Silent P" Panthers played for the state title in San Antonio with nary a color photo before they qualified for the finals. I don't think Round Rock's Stony Point ever got fully covered during their run. Upon losing to Pflugerville several years ago, parents gathered $300,000 to pay for a weight room complex. When state funding cuts threatened two teacher positions, parents fundraised to garner the money to keep them, temporarily.
"Hello, class. My name is Mr. Smith. I will be your teacher this year, and I am brought to you by the good folks at Dell."*When the game was finished, the Pflash had won 3-1. The last goal came from the Makos, and the Eanes/Westlake crowd was ecstatic. After the players shook hands, the 13-year-olds with the iMeet logos ran in line toward their parents to rousing applause before they turned back to meet with their coach. Ours met with their coach and came over when to start the long journey home. One team will be in the playoffs, but to see the end of this mess, you'd think the working-class kids had come up short.
Other districts (and schools) struggle to deliver adequate. This one surpasses adequate and shoots for borderline ridiculous. The proof? They're raising money this month to "help" the district:
It's too bad this district sees no need to help their impoverished neighbor distrcits. After allIt's students at those districts that will account for the brunt of the people Eanes ISD graduates will encounter in their adult lives.
Oh, yes. Forgot. That's why there are so many gated communities in that area. In fact, that's why the rich folk move out there in the first place.
Never mind.
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*Michael Dell lives in that district. He owns a small herd of goats, allowing him to label his living quarters "agricultural" and drop his school taxes. Even with that conniving, the district is flush with cash.
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