Jump to content

Musk Giving 30 Million to Brownsville Schools, Downtown


956 Worldwide

Recommended Posts

 

Well, if anywhere needs it Brownsville does. As a native Valley-ite, I love the fact that he’s doing it and am always proud to see rockets blasting off from the Tip of Texas.  The rockets loom in the distance on your way through PI to the causeway and give a familiar landscape a semi-surreal SciFi atmosphere.  That said, there’s another side to SpaceX in Boca Chica. 
 

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/02/space-x-texas-village-boca-chica/606382/

  • Hook 'Em 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 956 Worldwide said:

That said, there’s another side to SpaceX in Boca Chica. 

This is exactly why he's donating all that money.  The Boca Chica folks can't really fight back against him on a large scale, but he needs some goodwill from other areas, and if he wants to expand anywhere else, he's got to grease some palms.

  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

This is exactly why he's donating all that money.  The Boca Chica folks can't really fight back against him on a large scale, but he needs some goodwill from other areas, and if he wants to expand anywhere else, he's got to grease some palms.

Sounds like a, uh, well....cartel.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

This is exactly why he's donating all that money.  The Boca Chica folks can't really fight back against him on a large scale, but he needs some goodwill from other areas, and if he wants to expand anywhere else, he's got to grease some palms.

Wonder if it is also for tax reasons. Lot of large donations are just for that. I don't pay taxes on 30 M this year (A damn good year for musk) but I only have to shell out the cash over a period of time. Or is he just cutting them a check? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Deej said:

Sounds like Austin will have a place to ship some homeless.

We should ship a bunch of our house flippers down there as well, since there'll be plenty of gentrification going on in some areas - he's really wanting to ship in a bunch of high-paid folks.  His little tweets about asking STEM folks to come live down there touched a nerve with a lot of people down there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Wonder if it is also for tax reasons. Lot of large donations are just for that. I don't pay taxes on 30 M this year (A damn good year for musk) but I only have to shell out the cash over a period of time. Or is he just cutting them a check? 

I don't think 30M is putting a dent in his taxes. He's worth over $100B.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

I still don't trust him. 

This.  The guy is a control freak (part of why he wanted his own launch facility, free from government management), he caught some blowback from trying to force a bunch of people off of their private property, he has a lot of long-term plans, and he needs to get various local groups on his side for upcoming projects/expansions.

 He's not some Bill and Melinda Gates who are doing charitable things because that's just what they do these days.  He has a serious financial interest in getting local officials on his side

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

musk giving 30 million to Brownsville is like one of us giving a man with a sign at an intersection the change out of the cup holder.

 

Except we do it because maybe we feel guilty, or we feel pity for the man, or we sincerely believe that handful of change will buy that man a meal, or maybe we are just tired of all the change getting in the way of our large coffee and this is a good opportunity to get rid of it.

None of those reasons are why musk gave 30 million to Brownsville.

  • Hook 'Em 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

This.  The guy is a control freak (part of why he wanted his own launch facility, free from government management), he caught some blowback from trying to force a bunch of people off of their private property, he has a lot of long-term plans, and he needs to get various local groups on his side for upcoming projects/expansions.

 He's not some Bill and Melinda Gates who are doing charitable things because that's just what they do these days.  He has a serious financial interest in getting local officials on his side

It will not be difficult to find palms to grease down there... if he hasn’t already. The 5 major metros in the state do not have a monopoly on the political grifters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Cameron County has a lot of schools— I missed that he said countywide. All of the districts could use some coin, obviously there are some that need it more than others. 

Hopefully we get enough for us to build an indoor practice facility. Pinche Greyhounds are beating us in the arms race. 

  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

This.  The guy is a control freak (part of why he wanted his own launch facility, free from government management), he caught some blowback from trying to force a bunch of people off of their private property, he has a lot of long-term plans, and he needs to get various local groups on his side for upcoming projects/expansions.

 He's not some Bill and Melinda Gates who are doing charitable things because that's just what they do these days.  He has a serious financial interest in getting local officials on his side

Maybe Gates can donate to get rid of cow farts or something.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will be interested to see how it’s divided up. $30 million to all the public school districts in Cameron county could end up being like $3 million or less to each district. I imagine a lot of it will go to IDEA too and maybe some privates, which would lower it even more. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Kyle said:

95% to administration, 5% to direct instruction.

 

95% to sports, 5% to academics

 

A chunk of that 5% will be to hire a "curriculum coordinator". The rest will be for administrative training at a conference in Vegas or Pensacola. 0% will be for teacher pay raises, or to science labs, or to hire additional remedial reading teachers.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will be interested to see how it’s divided up. $30 million to all the public school districts in Cameron county could end up being like $3 million or less to each district. I imagine a lot of it will go to IDEA too and maybe some privates, which would lower it even more. 

9 districts splitting $20m. I’d imagine they’ll spread it based on a handful of factors, but based on size Brownsville and Harlingen Districts (maybe San Benito) will probably be the only ones getting $3+ million. The rest will be somewhere between $1-2m. Something is better than nothing, but that’s not really going to do much. Probably couldn’t even get a fresh paint of coat on every school with that.

Either way, charity is charity. I don’t give a shit what the reasons are (self-promotion, tax deductions, whatever). The end result is that somebody in need of help gets a little help.
  • Hook 'Em 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Fuck Tim Beck said:

Yep. Sadly I'm afraid this is the norm in Texas school districts. 

Yeah ... schools generally are among the worst at managing money and focusing on teachers / kids. Recent, glaring example ... fortunately they got some new board members that could smell a skunk. Why I usually roll my eyes at the screams of "we need more money for schools."

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2021/03/24/ousted-lancaster-superintendent-now-working-in-real-estate-with-former-board-president-who-approved-his-2-million-buyout/

"Former Lancaster superintendent Elijah Granger has a new job working with the former school board president who voted last year to pay him more than $2 million as he tried to leave the district. The board -- with Ellen Clark serving as president -- voted 4-3 in November on a hefty severance for Granger without explaining the reason for the separation. But that payout was quickly walked back after the board majority changed that month."

 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/30/2021 at 2:29 PM, atomheartbevo said:

This is exactly why he's donating all that money.  The Boca Chica folks can't really fight back against him on a large scale, but he needs some goodwill from other areas, and if he wants to expand anywhere else, he's got to grease some palms.

His employees will be wanting good schools. And a nice downtown.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like Musk and SpaceX but corporations donate to the community. They are purchasing goodwill. This is SOP for any business. From Billy’s Bailbonds sponsoring the local baseball team to Chevron building schools in Eagleford. 

This. For all of you getting your panties in a wad over this and complaining about his motivations and self interest, would you prefer that Musk and SpaceX use Boca Chica without ever giving anything to the local community?
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:


This. For all of you getting your panties in a wad over this and complaining about his motivations and self interest, would you prefer that Musk and SpaceX use Boca Chica without ever giving anything to the local community?

Because twit, yo. For 6% of 'murica their self-esteem is derived at how outraged they can get each day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

This. For all of you getting your panties in a wad over this and complaining about his motivations and self interest, would you prefer that Musk and SpaceX use Boca Chica without ever giving anything to the local community?

Some of us are thinking more in terms of "which land/homes does he want to take next?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, wild_turkey said:


This. For all of you getting your panties in a wad over this and complaining about his motivations and self interest, would you prefer that Musk and SpaceX use Boca Chica without ever giving anything to the local community?

It's initially goodwill for sure, but it's also an investment in engendering an educated and attractive locale.  So many companies move to Austin for a myriad of reasons, one big one being an educated and tech-savvy workforce to hire from.  Elon looks to be trying to do the same.  Good on him.  

elon-smoke-dba3.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...