Fired UWGB men's basketball coach Linc Darner guaranteed at least $720,000 in settlement

TW said:
Here's one for you. We have two public high schools in Weslaco. Our city is about 45,000 population. Both teams use the same stadium for football. It's an $8 million dollar plant, so why not?

There are about 14,000 seats in the stadium, plus there's several hundred VIP accommodations. The going rate for seats is $35 for a season pass to the cheap seats. The first tier of special seats runs double that figure. Then there's the additional seats that sell out at $140 for a season. They are sold out long before the schedule comes out. Then there's at least another 2,000 road tickets that each school gets to collect on for each road game which are also sold out. That goes at the rate of $35 each also.

In the end, the total take for the ten games, home and away, is nearly $700,000. That does not include the shirts, caps, and all kinds of team stuff sold down here, as well as the advertising at the stadium, which from what I heard brings in over $150,000 a year.

In Texas, high school football is big business. That's why we have a huge $1 million scoreboard, which shows replays just like the NFL. It's the largest high school scoreboard in the nation, unless a bigger one has been built since. Ours is 36' x 66', and rivals those in major pro sports.

Now, that's one team's income. There's a second team, and they share the stadium, so that's split expenses.

Both teams have their own practice fields which would put a lot of Division III college team stadiums to shame, except they only have seating for about 3 or 4,000 people. They play Junior High games there, and they sell out too.

Some of the road games are over 200 miles away, so they are overnight trips. There are as many as 25 buses loaded with fans going to games on the road, and motels/hotels in some fairly large areas are full because of it. Teams want those road visitors because they pump a lot of money into the local economies if it's an over night trip.

It's so much different down here than up north.
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Lot of oil money in TX to be able to fund those HS to make sure they have the best of the best. Do the boosters spend the same on the schools to make sure the schools have the best teachers and the best equipment for the kids or does it only go to the sports teams?
 
GBP4EVER said:
Lot of oil money in TX to be able to fund those HS to make sure they have the best of the best. Do the boosters spend the same on the schools to make sure the schools have the best teachers and the best equipment for the kids or does it only go to the sports teams?
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It's a mixed bag to be honest. Some areas spend a ton on the educational needs, in other areas, that's not the case. What is striking though is that the schools in our area are ranked #2 in the state, and the only district that's rated higher is one where they pour millions into every opportunity and convenience they can. A very wealthy area, while our area is actually one of the lower income areas in the state.

We also have a lot of proactive people in the Hispanic community that support the IDEA charter school system which is doing a great job in helping underprivileged kids reach some very high potential goals. Fortunately the schools here recognize the need to do early preparation for college, and a large number of our college bound students (which incidentally is one of the highest percentages in the nation) actually graduate high school with associates degrees in a lot of fields. The number of college scholarships they get, because of their preparation, is staggering.

Of course there are areas in the state where education is not very good. Sadly that happens everywhere, not just in Texas. It's either a lack of funding, or a lack of concern by the people who are responsible for making it work.
 
TW said:
It's a mixed bag to be honest. Some areas spend a ton on the educational needs, in other areas, that's not the case. What is striking though is that the schools in our area are ranked #2 in the state, and the only district that's rated higher is one where they pour millions into every opportunity and convenience they can. A very wealthy area, while our area is actually one of the lower income areas in the state.

We also have a lot of proactive people in the Hispanic community that support the IDEA charter school system which is doing a great job in helping underprivileged kids reach some very high potential goals. Fortunately the schools here recognize the need to do early preparation for college, and a large number of our college bound students (which incidentally is one of the highest percentages in the nation) actually graduate high school with associates degrees in a lot of fields. The number of college scholarships they get, because of their preparation, is staggering.

Of course there are areas in the state where education is not very good. Sadly that happens everywhere, not just in Texas. It's either a lack of funding, or a lack of concern by the people who are responsible for making it work.
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IDEA is a hot topic. My friends in TX think they're horrible. Plus didnt they just give their ex head guy like a million dollar payout after he left?

Anyway that's a discussion for another thread.
 
In the Valley, they're working fine. It depends on the area they are located. They gave him near $800k to get rid of him. They needed better leadership. They'd gone down hill with him at the helm.
 
Is IDEA school choice? We have it in WI and I know it casuses some issues as people say all it's good for is not letting parents send their kids to the best schools they want but instead allowing schools to use it as a recuriting tool for sports.
 
GBP4EVER said:
Is IDEA school choice? We have it in WI and I know it casuses some issues as people say all it's good for is not letting parents send their kids to the best schools they want but instead allowing schools to use it as a recuriting tool for sports.
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It's different but the same. Lol
 
This will give you a better look at our Valley IDEA schools. There is no sports emphasis. It's all about getting kids to the next level. It really works. The list of kids heading out on scholarships to colleges and universities is amazing. A guy who worked for our gardener is American born, but lived in an area of Texas where they spoke very little English, and had no schooling for him, growing up. His daughter graduated from an IDEA school here in the Valley, and went on the U Texas, Austin. She was on scholarship. She was just accepted to medical school with a full scholarship, at UT. She's looking at becoming a thoracic surgeon. When he talks about her, his eyes fill with tears, and he tells us how she's the first person in their family to even be able to go to high school. It made me look into it more, and what I saw, I loved.

Like everything else, each area is a little different. Here in the Valley, it's embraced, because it's a way for people without money to become part of the future of this country, instead of just a count on a census report.

ideapublicschools.org

Rio Grande Valley - IDEA Public Schools

Apply to a campus near you! Apply Now Sign Up To Learn More IDEA’s Schools in the Rio Grande Valley IDEA AlamoEST. 2010 IDEA BrownsvilleEST. 2012 IDEA DonnaEST. 2000 IDEA EdinburgEST. 2011 IDEA ElsaEST. 2018 IDEA FrontierEST. 2006 IDEA HarlingenEST. 2020 IDEA La JoyaEST. 2021 IDEA Los...
ideapublicschools.org ideapublicschools.org
 
That type of school does have some inherent advantages that when run correctly make it a good spot for certain people.
 
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Will Ryan, son of Hall of Famer Bo Ryan, is finalist for UWGB men's basketball job
 
Former UW coach Brad Soderberg also a finalist for the job.
 
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