HISD magnet audit unveiled today
The long-awaited audit of Houston ISD's magnet program — expected to recommend which schools should lose the label and which should get makeovers — will be released today. Please check back for our story.
Trying to get in tune
There are 113 magnet schools in Houston, but no uniform formula guides their funding
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 25, 2010, 5:50AM
Eric Kayne Chronicle
From left, Kamryn Johnson, 5, Ivanna Lopez, 6, Emmy Hunter, 5, and Tori Head, 5, learn how to hold their "violins" as part of Parker Elementary's fine arts program.
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MAGNET MONEY
HISD has no consistent funding formula for its magnet schools. Here's a sampling of the per-pupil funding at some of the fine arts programs.
• Gregory-Lincoln Middle School: $1,960.88
• Burrus Elementary: $1,234.64
• Parker Elementary: $671.19
• Roberts Elementary: $528.35
• Cook Elementary: $29.34
Source: Houston ISD
In southwest Houston, students in Parker Elementary's special magnet program learn to play instruments from professionals. They get group lessons daily and private lessons weekly. Pop star Beyoncé Knowles got her start there.
The Houston school district gives Parker about $670 per student to run the music program, which is so popular it draws a waiting list of children from around the city.
Cook Elementary, on the north side, also has a fine arts program. It gets $29 per student — not enough to cover a full-time dance teacher or to hire a theater instructor.
Both campuses have the desired "magnet" label, but the Houston Independent School District funds them at wildly different rates.