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Education News
 Happy teachers tied to good students
Findings by Austin schools researchers also show that at high schools, attendance and teacher tenure are key.
By Molly Bloom AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Call it the "happy teachers make for good students, or vice versa" theory. Austin elementary and middle school teachers' opinions of their campus's environment and of student behavior were the two most important factors in predicting state standardized test scores, according to a district study released in October.
Other factors such as the percentage of students from low-income families, teachers' years of experience and parents' opinions of a school showed some correlation with Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills performance. But teachers' ratings of school environment and of student behavior seemed to be the strongest indicators of high scores.
"Knowing that those two variables are closely related to student performance, we know that those are two areas where we need to push," said Claudia Tousek , the district's interim chief academic officer. "It's still more than that, but the whole beauty of this is that we're identifying areas that we need to put more emphasis on."
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Private schools get state funds San Antonio Express News October 27, 2008 by Eva Ruth Moravec The Texas State Teachers Association, which represents 65,000 teachers, filed a lawsuit to stop the flow of tax dollars to private schools. TSTA didn't win its request for a temporary injunction, but the organization plans to push forward with its case, which awaits trial.
The lawsuit targets Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott, the TEA and all three private entities that received grant money: Christian Fellowship of San Antonio; Healy-Murphy Center Inc., in San Antonio; and Community Action Inc. of Hays, Caldwell and Blanco Counties.
TEA officials say the initiative is not a voucher program. Meanwhile, some state organizations think including private schools is a must.
“Obviously, they didn't succeed in public schools the first time around, so to give them options only makes sense,” said Peggy Venable, spokeswoman for Americans for Prosperity-Texas.
DOE Chief of Staff Joins New TX Charter School Association, September 23, 2008 Wall Street Journal DigiNet The Texas Charter Schools Association (TCSA) announced it was opening its doors to accelerate student achievement by mobilizing and supporting a diverse set of highly effective charter schools. More
National Fox News, Report: Public School Vouchers Pros and Cons 5 PM CST September 16, 2008 watch (not yet posted online) go to report here
Options in K-12 Education by Empower Texans September 16, 2008 "Parents have more options choosing bottled water
than we do choosing a setting for our kid's education."
Charter schools are designed for childrens specific learning styles
for the convenience of parents and the skill sets of teachers, but
the number of these schools allowed by law are limited.
What can you do? Listen for action alert at the end of this short video.Michael Quinn Sullivan reports his findings, watch here
FROM APRIL 2008
Austin graduation rates must improve read here
Austin American Statesman Editorial Board
www.statesman.com
TFN: TEA DROPOUT RECOVERY VOUCHER SCHEME IS POLITICAL PAYBACK FOR JAMES LEININGER, Quorum Report August 12, 2008
Giving public funding to a San Antonio private school for a dropout recovery program is political payback to a financial major backer of Gov. Rick Perry and private school voucher schemes, the president of the Texas Freedom Network said today."It's hard to believe that a private school established just 10 years ago in a former roadside bar offers a more credible dropout recovery program than 22 public school districts whose applications for a grant were rejected," TFN President Kathy Miller said. Leininger Spokesman Responds to TFN In political wars, the children are forgotten, Hoagland says Dr. James Leininger’s spokesman, Ken Hoagland sent us a note responding to the press release we posted from the Texas Freedom Network yesterday. “While the actual fate of children failed by public education is apparently inconsequential to Kathy Miller, the generosity of Jim Leininger’s privately funded ten-year school choice program in San Antonio saw 92% of enrolled low income children not only graduate high school but go onto college on their own dime. The almost hysterical resistance to this effort by Ms. Miller and others, which takes no funding from our public education budgets, clearly shows that saving young adults from dropout status and lives of missed opportunities matters not. Their position that the monopoly of public education is the only acceptable remedy for our ongoing 40-60 percent drop out rate and the continuing damage to the minority community in urban schools in Texas irrational and inflexible . More at www.quorumreport.com
The GI Bills, Models for K-12 by David W. Kirkpatrick Sr Ed Fellow, www.FreedomFoundation.us August 7, 2008 The federal government recently enacted the latest version of a GI Bill, the first of which became law in June of 1944. The original GI Bill demonstrated that funding education by choice is more effective than funding institutions. That bill paid for tuition, fees, and incidental charges and even provided a monthly stipend. The original GI Bill proved to be a win-win for everyone. It was so obviously successful that millions of other veterans have taken advantage of subsequent versions in 1952, 1966, 1976, and 1984. More will undoubtedly do so with the new law. Gradual implementation of public grant (voucher) for K-12 students is occurring, and long overdue. More info email kirkdw@aol.com
Austin ISD Insider July 30, 2008 - Superintendent Pat Forgione, joined by Education Austin President Louis Malfaro and Bill Cryer, representing the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, today announced nearly $1 million in payments to 410 teachers and principals at nine schools participating in the Austin School District’s Strategic Compensation pilot program. More
"The school choice movement took a giant step forward today"
Friedman Foundation News by Robert Enlow May 14, 2008
"Governor Sonny Perdue (Democrat) signed into law a tax credit scholarship bill that enables all Georgia children, regardless of income to receive a voucher,"said Robert Enlow. "This is wonderful news and shows that the notion of school choice for all children is alive and well in the United States. Please look below for a press release on the historic victory and for the details of the new program." More
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Did ISD Boundaries Lead to Mortgage Crunch? That's the provocative thesis of Cornell University economist Robert Frank in the April 27 Washington Post, Frank suggests families fell victim to over borrowing in order to get their kids into better public schools: "It is no surprise that two-income families would choose to spend much of their extra income on better education. And because the best schools are in the most expensive neighborhoods, the imperative was clear: To gain access to the best possible public school, you had to purchase the most expensive house you could afford. Congress should not bail out speculators and fraudulent borrowers. But neither should it be too quick to condemn families that borrowed what the lending system offered rather than send their children to inferior schools." Washington Post click here for more on this story...
Much more Education Intel available at http://www.eiaonline.com
Austin is 21st in high school graduation rates
School district says 58 percent rate found in study is too low.
By Bob Deans Austin American Statesman WASHINGTON BUREAU
Tuesday, April 01, 2008 WASHINGTON — Austin ranks 21st among large cities in high school graduation rates, with 58.2 percent of the city's high school students earning a diploma, well below the national average of about 70 percent, a report to be released today says. Read more Read study
Texas Classroom Teachers Association, March 14 www.TylerPaper.com in a letter to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Berman called for prohibiting school districts from processing payroll deductions for political contributions. He specifically cites the Texas State Teachers Association Political Action Committee.
“The Democrats have raised a lot of their money through the teachers’ unions,” Berman told the Tyler Morning Telegraph. “So through using the payroll deduction process, they're using state funds, state equipment and state time to raise political money. That doesn't fit with Texas state law.”
March 9, 2008-AUSTIN The state's High School Completion and Success Initiative Council will meet at 10 a.m. today and Tuesday at the Texas Education Agency, 1701 N. Congress Ave., Room 1-104. Formed to improve high school completion rates and work force readiness standards of Texas students, the council will discuss and take public comments on its strategic plan.
A draft copy of the plan is posted at www.tea.state.tx.us/ed_init/thscsic. www.statesman.com
State education commissioner seeks AG opinion on Bible course
AUSTIN — March 5 A new law giving Texas high schools freedom to teach elective Bible courses has the state's top education official unclear about the obligations to offer such classes. \Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott is asking Attorney General Greg Abbott for an opinion about whether public high schools must offer a Bible course if requested by at least 15 students, a threshold referenced in the bill that was passed last year. Lawmakers adopted the measure with an assurance the class would only focus on the history and literature of the Bible, and not proselytize or disparage any faith.
Wimberley school district challenging Texas' 'Robin Hood' finance law Teachers are tired of their pay. Students are tired of cramped schools. Taxpayers are tired of seeing their money go to other districts. A Hill Country school district says it will not share its wealth. By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News www.dallasnews.com WIMBERLEY, Texas – Protests from this small school district nestled in the Texas Hill Country are reverberating across the state's school finance landscape. Bowen Intermediate School in Wimberley is so short on space that its gym's stage is now used as storage and a lost-and-found room. The state says the high-wealth district must pay an estimated $3.1 million or risk consolidation. School board members – backed by parents and local business owners – have decided to say "no" when their payment comes due next month under the state's "Robin Hood" school funding law. Wimberley is one of more than 160 high-wealth school districts – including several in the Dallas area – that are required to share their property tax revenue with other districts. But residents here insist that their students will suffer if they turn the money over to the state.
"We're not going to pay it," said Gary Pigg, vice president of the Wimberley school board and a small-business owner. "Our teachers are some of the lowest-paid in the area. Our buildings need massive repairs. We keep running a deficit – and they still want us to give money away.
"It's unconstitutional – and I'm ready to go to jail if I have to." Mr. Pigg and the rest of the Wimberley school board voted last fall to withhold the payment of an estimated $3.1 million in local property taxes – one-sixth of the district's total revenue – that was supposed to be sent to the state under the share-the-wealth school finance law passed in 1993. The law was passed in response to a series of court orders calling for equalized funding among school districts.
The first payment this year from Wimberley is due Feb. 15, and Texas Education Agency officials and Wimberley schools Superintendent Dwain York have been looking for a way to avert the first instance of a school district refusing to share its property taxes under the 15-year-old law.
State Education Commissioner Robert Scott and the TEA have remained firm that if the situation can't be resolved, Mr. Scott will be required to take steps to dissolve the 2,000-student school district and annex it to a neighboring district, mostly likely the San Marcos or Hays school district.
"There is no option for the commissioner," said Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the education agency. "If they refuse to make payments, Wimberley must be consolidated with a lower-wealth district."
Some districts have threatened in the past to withhold payments, but none have done so.
Pay now or pay later Local school officials from across the state have been closely watching the situation, sympathizing with Wimberley over its bleak financial picture, but also recognizing that it is required to surrender some of its revenue under a process called "recapture."
"I don't like to pay my income tax, but you have to pay it," said Clayton Downing, former superintendent of the Lewisville school district and president of the Texas School Coalition, which represents high-property-wealth districts.
"None of our districts are crazy about paying recapture, but as long as this is the law, there's no choice. You have to pay or there will be consequences. We understand their financial situation, but they're fighting the inevitable."
Lawmakers had hoped to do away with the unpopular Robin Hood system when they passed a massive school finance reform law in 2006, but the wide disparities in property wealth among districts made that impossible – so long as education funding continues to be heavily dependent on local property taxes.
The new system significantly reduced the amount of revenue taken from high-wealth districts – by almost half – but the figure is still expected to reach about $1.1 billion this year.
Mr. York, superintendent of Wimberley schools, said the designation of his district as high-wealth is misleading.
While most high-wealth districts have valuable commercial or industrial property, Wimberley has little of that except for the antique and specialty shops clustered in the center of town. Most of the property on the tax rolls is residential – and much of that is owned by retirees attracted to the area by its natural beauty and laid-back lifestyle.
"There's nothing in the school funding system that is positive for us. It's sucking the life out of our district," said Mr. York, who encouraged others to visit his school district and see for themselves that it is far from wealthy.
Last winter, for example, one of the district's two elementary schools had to use space heaters in several classrooms because parts couldn't be found for the campus' old heating system.
That same campus, Bowen Intermediate School, also has what teachers call the "portable jungle" – a collection of 20 portable classrooms scattered behind the overcrowded main building. And the stage in the gymnasium is no longer available for school events becaus it is being used for storage and also doubles as a lost-and-found room.
A $34 million bond package passed by voters last year – including funds to build a new elementary school – will eventually help, but there is no relief in sight for other pressing needs, according to Mr. York.
"We've cut out Spanish instruction for elementary students, eliminated some of our reading intervention programs, scaled back our music program, and my faculty has not had a decent raise in five years," he said.
The cutbacks have been particularly frustrating for the school board members because they have seen the beneficiaries of the Robin Hood system avoid such constraints.
"We're giving money to supposedly poor school districts that are giving their teachers raises every year, and in some cases, using that money to buy buses for their football teams," Mr. Pigg said.
Meanwhile, he added, Wimberley has been ranked "recognized," the second-highest rating, by the state, while some districts receiving Wimberley's property taxes have been rated "academically unacceptable. "
In discussions with state officials, Mr. York said, "They tell us our only hope is to either cut teachers or raise taxes. Those are two pretty pathetic answers."
Regarding the possibility of a tax hike, Mr. York noted that an increase would require voter approval – something that is not likely to happen with residents knowing that a big chunk of their money will be taken by the state.
Situation changed
Wayne Pierce of the Equity Center, a group that represents hundreds of low- and medium-wealth school districts, said Wimberley's predicament is more the result of a lack of adequate funding from the state than the Robin Hood system.
"We used to think all high-wealth school districts had lots of money. But the situation has changed, and many of those districts are now having difficulty making ends meet," he said.
Still, Mr. Pierce added, "If the state allowed a district to not pay its recapture funds, then you would have chaos in the system."
But such arguments don't impress the residents of Wimberley, who remain solidly behind the board's decision.
"We are right behind the school board on this," said Sue Hales, librarian at Wimberley Junior High School. "We are not what the state says we are. We don't have a lot of money in this district." The average home value, for example, is about $165,000.
Local businessman Jack Glover also has problems with the state taking so much property tax money out of the school district, particularly when teachers are underpaid compared with nearby districts.
"They need to raise our teacher salaries up and then maybe talk about how much of our money we can send out," said Mr. Glover, 83.
Local school officials said they will continue to negotiate with the state as the Feb. 15 deadline approaches, looking for common ground, such as a proposal to allow the district to stretch out its Robin Hood payments.
"The TEA is just as worried about this as we are," Mr. York said. "They know how bad it would look if they consolidate a recognized school district – one that has a 98 percent graduation rate – with a lesser district. What kind of message would that send?"
A RECENT HISTORY OF TEXAS SCHOOL FINANCING
A group of poor school districts sued in 1984, alleging that the funding system – based mainly on local property taxes and state aid – was unconstitutional and deprived them of the same per-student funding as wealthier districts. They won, and the Texas Supreme Court said the state had to equalize funding between wealthy and poor districts.
The Legislature made two attempts – both struck down by the courts – to fix the system before agreeing in 1993 on the "Robin Hood" plan, which took property tax revenue away from high-wealth districts and redistributed it to lower-wealth districts. The state Supreme Court upheld the law in a 1995 opinion written by then-Justice John Cornyn, now a U.S. senator.
In another round of litigation brought by Dallas and hundreds of other districts, the Supreme Court again declared the funding system unconstitutional because of its heavy reliance on property taxes – but left the Robin Hood requirements untouched. A new finance law passed in a special session in 2006 reduced local property taxes and replaced the revenue with a new business tax and higher cigarette tax. "Recapture" of money from high-wealth districts was decreased, but it was not eliminated.
This year, a district is subject to recapture if it has property wealth of more than $364,500 per student. A total of 208 districts, including Dallas and Houston, are above that level, but many of those don't lose any revenue because of provisions in the 2006 law that protected them from funding losses in the future. Neither Dallas nor Houston has to pay into the Robin Hood system yet, but about 160 high-wealth districts do, to the tune of about $1.1 billion this year.
North Forest ISD will get more oversight
The state is sending two staff members to work in the troubled district
By ERICKA MELLON Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Post a Comment Answer Poll With parents pleading for help, the state has agreed to step up its oversight of Houston’s North Forest school district after a probe this week confirmed serious financial and academic woes. Two state-appointed managers have been working in the North Forest Independent School District for months. And now they will be joined by at least two staff members from the Texas Education Agency, said Debbie Ratcliffe, an agency spokeswoman. "They'll be trying to sort out what we can do to try to turn this situation around," she said Wednesday. TEA officials visited the northeast Houston district this week after an independent auditor declared it was nearing bankruptcy, and North Forest's financial chief said it was so broke he had to use construction dollars to cover general expenses, such as payroll.
"They came back with even greater concerns than they began with," Ratcliffe said. "They're still trying to sort through all the records. But it's definitely dire." In the coming days, agency staffers will present Education Commissioner Robert Scott with suggestions for North Forest, and the increased state presence will begin Monday, Ratcliffe said. The district's interim superintendent, William Jones, and Carl Williams, the financial chief, have said North Forest needs to cut $7.3 million from its budget this school year — a drastic reduction that likely would require layoffs State officials still are reviewing the financial situation, Ratcliffe said. "I don't think we're envisioning them closing their doors. They've got methods to get through the year," she said.But the problems in North Forest are not only financial. Five of its 11 schools netted "academically unacceptable" ratings from the state this year, and officials don't expect major improvement, Ratcliffe said."They have an attendance rate of only 81 percent at one of their high schools," she said. Because Texas funds schools based on attendance, Ratcliffe said, "They could help themselves financially and help the students if they just improve their attendance rate."
'I'm beyond angry' Despite the state involvement, some in the North Forest community are complaining that the TEA has allowed the district to flounder for too long. A divided school board has been unable to agree on a new superintendent for nearly a year. "Right now I'm beyond angry," said Linda Arceneaux, whose son is a senior at Smiley High School. "I don't understand how it can keep going on and on and on. My child hates to go to school, because of the administration, because of all the mess that goes on."The district has had a state-appointed financial manager, or conservator, on site part time since March, and in November the state sent in a second conservator to oversee the unacceptable campuses and the special education department. The appointees, both former superintendents in other school districts, make up a management team that has the power under state law to overrule the superintendent and the school board.So far, North Forest has paid nearly $72,000 to the financial conservator, Henry Boening, and more than $8,000 to the academic conservator, Barbara Wilson, according to district records. State law requires the district to pay the appointees $60 an hour, or up to $480 a day. The district will not have to pay the new TEA staffers, Rat- cliffe said.
Senator faults TEA State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, whose district includes North Forest, said the TEA deserves some blame for the district's recent money problems and questionable spending of bond funds. "If they sent somebody down here who's supposed to be monitoring and overseeing things, then I don't understand why all of a sudden we get this shocking news," the Houston Democrat said. "What in creation is happening?" Tobie Ross Jr., the school board president, has said he sees no reason for the TEA to intervene further in the district.
"We know what the problem is," he said, ''and we need to correct the problem in-house and put controls in place." Post a Comment Answer Poll
Remebering Ortralla murdered in 2003 : First Lady Anita Perry Raises Awareness of Teen Dating Violence Feb. 4-8 is Teen Dating Violence and Prevention Week
AUSTIN – Texas First Lady Anita Perry spoke at a news conference today highlighting the serious issue of teen dating violence, proclaiming Feb. 4-8, 2008 as Teen Dating Violence and Prevention Week. "Relationship abuse among teenagers is unfortunately all too common. Together as parents, educators, and peers we can make a difference to end the violence," said Mrs. Perry. "We must continue working to increase awareness and access to resources for victims." According to a survey by the Texas Council on Family Violence, 75 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds reported having personally experienced dating violence or knew someone who has. The term "Dating Violence" is defined as the intentional use of physical, sexual, verbal or emotional abuse by a person to harm, threaten, intimidate or control another person in a dating relationship. More info http://www.tcsheriff.org/tdv-campaign.htm Read Ortralla's story
TEA unveils online clearinghouse for best practices in schools
AUSTIN – Texas schools now have access to a Texas Education Agency-hosted website providing information on best practices in classroom instruction, dropoutprevention, district business, resource allocation, and financial issues.Launched under a directive from House Bill 1, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2006, the new Best Practices Clearinghouse will be available not only to schools but to the general public. “Part of our mission at TEA is to provide the resources to help schools meet the educational needs of all students,” said Robert Scott, TEA Commissioner. “This new clearinghouse will allow teachers, administrators, parents and the general public access to what works best as we all seek to provide an excellent education to our school kids.” Individuals interested in submitting a best practice can do so by visiting the clearinghouse website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/bestprac/
White House too Announce Pell Grants for Kids and Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools
White House Press Release January 28 2008
President Bush tonight in his final State of the Union address is expected to promote a $300 million "Pell Grants for Kids" scholarship program to allow low-income students in poor-performing public schools to attend a religious or independent school, or a public school outside their district.The president will also announce plans for a White House summit on inner-city children and faith-based schools to be held in Washington this spring. A White House briefing paper makes the case for the summit this way: more click here
Teachers Unions Block School Choice
By Dan Lips, Heritage Institue News November 13, 2007
Utah voters have rejected Referendum 1, a ballot proposal to approve a universal school-choice plan signed into law by Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr., earlier this year. The NEA spent $3.1 million on its anti-voucher campaign. Union affiliates and other liberal groups poured in hundreds of thousands of dollars more. Why? Because these opponents of parental choice feared the national implications of Utah implementing its voucher plan.
Teacher unions have long warned that the sky would fall and public schools would collapse if a widespread voucher program took effect. If their dire predictions didn't come to pass once every Utah student was eligible to receive a voucher, the teachers unions' scare tactics would be proven false and wouldn't work elsewhere in the country.
Now school-choice opponents will trumpet that the Utah voucher vote signals that parental choice in education has lost momentum. But history shows that defeats at the ballot box don't spell an end to school-choice reforms.
In 2000, voters in California and Michigan rejected similar school-voucher ballot initiatives. NEA president Bob Chase declared that the "the thorough thrashing of vouchers in California and Michigan should be a death knell to a bad idea."
Over the past seven years, however, school-choice reforms have continued to blossom across the country, backed by growing bipartisan support. In 2001, Florida and Pennsylvania responded to the ballot initiative "death knell" by creating scholarship programs that today serve 50,000 lower-income children. Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington, D.C., have all enacted school-choice programs since 2000. Read more http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/ednotes92.cfm
NEA Focuses on Non-Education Issues by Connie Sadowski November 6, 2007
There are so many excellent public schools and public school teachers--we commend their hard work. This article is written to update parents and teachers on education issues that associations may not be talking to them about and to spur them to become more involved in focusing on education outcomes in English, Math, Science and History," said Connie Sadowski. Teachers must not "sit idly back and pay dues," Sissy Jochmann, a second grade teacher said. "It's unconscionable," she continued, for state members to do nothing while the NEA continues to "adopt non-education policies regarding social issues." Read entire story www.ceoaustin.org/srn
Take poll: www.ceoAustin.org/poll2 Are parents and teachers paying enough attention?
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Donate to our privately funded scholarship program here www.ceoAustin.org/donate
The Union Libel
November 5, 2007 Wall Street Journal
Utah's children may not excel in math or English, but their teachers are very good at instructing them in how to run a political campaign. As 2007 achievement test data show another disappointing year for the state's children, the teachers union is running a multi-million-dollar campaign to insulate itself from competition. On Tuesday, Utahans will vote on whether to proceed with a statewide voucher program enacted in February. The plan passed both houses of Utah's legislature after a rough-and-tumble debate, and was signed by Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. But the teachers union immediately launched a ballot initiative to overturn the law and succeeded in blocking it from taking effect prior to Tuesday's vote. A new report from the Utah Foundation shows the state's public education could certainly use a shake-up. The states most similar demographically to Utah, by measures such as student poverty and parental education, are Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Utah finishes last in this group, based on eighth-grade scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Utah youngsters trail the pack across the range of core subjects -- last in math, last in reading, last in science. Still, the unions are banking that fear of the unknown will trump demonstrated incompetence.
Students Rally behind teacher November 1 by Raven L. Hill Austin American Statesman
Westlake High physics teacher, who led one of the strongest physics programs in the country, left to join Akins High in South Austin this fall. He served Eanes for 22 years, but district officials filed a complaint against him with the State Board of Educator Certification under a rarely used law that enables districts to seek sanctions against teachers who break contracts without good cause. Read more
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Victory for Teachers October 31 by Nicole Hay
The 5th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals upheld a major victory for Texas public school teacher Karen Barrow last week.
The Free Market Foundation's legal division, based in Dallas was contacted by Barrow after her district's Superintendent denied
considering her for a promotion to vice principal because she refused to take her children out of private Christian school. The court found the Greenville ISD Superintendent guilty of violating Mrs. Barrow's constitutional parental rights and awarded over $650,000 in the attorneys' fees and costs that have accumulated in this nine year battle. Greenville is 30 miles Northeast of Dallas. This award sends a message from the judge that parents, not the state, have the right to govern their children's upbringing and education. More
Read ruling here
New TEA chief has done his homework, but real test is ahead
October 25, 2007 By KAREN AYRES SMITH / The Dallas Morning News
Mr. Scott faces several critical tasks in his new job. Here are the details of some of his plans:
Scott on TEA reorganization
He plans to reorganize the agency to better serve programs that have been mandated by the Legislature, including a Virtual Schools program that will provide for online courses.
Scott on Vouchers
He would support a pilot voucher program, but authorization for any such program would have to come from the Legislature. He said it would be worthwhile to see whether vouchers would help at-risk students, but he believes public schools would remain the schools of choice for most parents. More here
Complaint puts Texas teacher on leave By Angela K. Brown, Associated Press Writer October 22, 2007
TUSCOLA, Texas --A popular English teacher has been placed on paid leave -- and faces possible criminal charges -- after a student's parents complained to police that a ninth-grade class reading list contained a book about a murderer who has s_ _ with his victims' bodies. Kaleb Tierce, 25, is being investigated for allegedly distributing harmful material to a minor after the student selected Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy's "Child of God" off the list and read it.
Tierce, a third-year teacher and assistant football coach at Jim Ned High School, has not been arrested, but his case has caused an uproar in this West Texas town of 700 people. Last week, more than 120 parents and students crowded into a meeting where the school board voted to keep Tierce on paid leave. Tierce, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, declined to comment when asked by The Associated Press about the allegations. Read entire story
Big Brother at School Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby October 17
"Nobody would want the government to run 90 percent of the nation's entertainment industry. Nobody thinks that 90 percent of all housing should be owned by the state. Yet the government's control of 90 percent of the nation's schools leaves most Americans strangely unconcerned." Read more at Boston Globe
Texas parents, schools spar over special needs
Getting public funds for private help is rare in the state bySARAH VIREN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle October 16, 2007
Since Jodie was in third grade, Humble Independent School District administrators have moved him to at least three different schools. At one of the latest, the district's center for children with emotional disturbances, his mom, Carol Allred found her son in a timeout room covered in his own waste. She pushed then, as before, for taxpayer-funded private schooling.
But only this year, after Jodie had fallen behind two grades in reading and spent countless hours isolated from other students because of his outbursts, did school officials agree.Jodie now spends every day and night at Bayes Achievement Center, a Huntsville facility that treats children with emotional or behavioral problems — at a cost of about $170,000 a year for Humble ISD.The district hopes the boy will improve there and return to school next year. Allred, a single mother working rotating shifts as a dialysis nurse, just wishes he'd been sent sooner.
"It shouldn't be like that," she said. "It should be: We see a problem, let's nip it in the bud now and get it fixed. If we had done this two years ago, we would be in a much better place." Read entire story
Gov. Rick Perry today named Robert Scott as Texas Commissioner of Education October 16, 2007
Scott, who has served as interim Education Commissioner since June 2007, has been an integral part of raising the bar for scholastic achievement and success in Texas for more than 15 years according to an October 16 Governor's office press release.
“Robert Scott is the right choice to lead Texas’ education system toward continued success and new benchmark achievements,” said Perry. “With an unmatched record of service and commitment to Texas’ students, Robert has the experience and dedication needed to raise the bar in classrooms and make sure students receive a top-notch education that prepares them for success in and out of school.”
We believe Mr. Scott will continue to lead his staff towards an atmosphere of " a more kind, gentler, more customer friendly state agency" said Connie Sadowski with the Austin CEO Foundation,--something "all education groups should strive for to benefit the children of Texas."
Experts say state must reach out to students
Relationships, not rules, may help curb dropout rate
By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Sept. 28, 2007
Texas school districts could do much to curb high dropout rates if there were fewer high-stakes tests, districts didn't hold so many students back, and schools did more to get to know their students, state and local officials said in a Houston conference this week.
The top reason that nearly one-third of Texas students fail to finish high school, experts said, is that they feel disconnected from school and don't think a diploma will help them.
To combat those ideas, schools must work harder to reach out to students, said William Milliken, founder and vice chairman of the Communities in Schools. Read more
NEA Moves Even Further from Mainstream at Annual Convention
by Connie Sadowski Heartland Institute, Chicago
NEA leaders should work to arrive at "common-ground positions" regarding some "historically adversarial issues such as school choice and reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, curriculum content, school safety, improving the high school graduation rate, reducing the dropout rate, and teaching each generation about the processes of democracy.
"When education and political leaders are adversarial and indecisive, the kids suffer," Lenning added. "We want our students across the nation to succeed with an accessible, quality education." read more
Dropout rates show one size doesn’t fit all
by Peggy Venable , East Texas Review, Longview
Right here in America, every 29 seconds another student gives up on school, resulting in more than one million high school students dropping out every year. Every hour of every day, 93 Texas students drop out of public schools. The majority are inner city minority males.
It is a story that goes largely untold, because these are not the children of the powerful or politically connected. And it doesn’t have a happy ending.
The numbers represent more than the failure of a one-size-fits-all system of education, but a tremendous cost to our economy and an even greater human tragedy, as many of these dropouts slip between the crevices of productive society. According to the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), the 2007 class of high school dropouts in Texas will cost state taxpayers $377 million this year and every year over the course of their lifetimes.
The real travesty is our inability to provide educational options to students most vulnerable.Two-parent households usually have the resources to select the public school of their choice either by moving into a specific district or paying private school tuition. Inner city minority youth from single-parent, low-income households have no options.
Nearly one-third of all public high school students—and nearly one half of all African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans—fail to graduate from public high school with their classes. Why are students dropping out? More than 80 percent said they might have stayed in school if classes had been more interesting and provided opportunities for real-world learning.
The most frequently given reason for dropping out is “Didn’t like school in general or the school they were attending.” The “one size fits all” approach didn’t fit the kids that dropped out. Clearly, something must be done. From the very beginning, school choice has been a civil rights issue, according to Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, a former assistant secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.
Our failure to recognize choice as a civil rights issue comes at tremendous cost. The NCPA study finds that a modest school choice program would reduce public school dropout rates and save taxpayers up to $53 million a year in costs associated with dropouts. More important would be the opportunity for at-risk youth to get an education.
Choice provides an environment for new models to emerge that would serve specific populations. Today, some charter schools operate noon to 6 pm, or hold evening, weekend, and online classes. Choice is powerful. It provides the flexibility to serve various needs. With choice, providers will tailor education to the needs and interests of the customers. Public education could do that, but already has wasted a lot of time. The current bureaucratic system still doesn’t “get it” and fails to treat the parents and students as customers.
Recent dropout numbers don’t lie. We are miserably failing a very vulnerable student population. These students and parents need a safety valve – they deserve options that more affluent students enjoy. Time is running out for thousands of minority students. We can’t afford to wait. But are Texans ready to make changes?
A recent Texas Lyceum poll revealed that almost two-thirds of the Texans surveyed support a program “in which parents are given taxpayer money by the government that they can use to pay for a child’s tuition at the school of their choice.” Interestingly, when reviewing the racial breakdowns, whites were more likely to oppose school choice and African-Americans and Hispanics more likely to support the idea. Younger Texans were more supportive than older ones.
No significant and meaningful change will come easily. The major obstacle will be the education community.Millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent opposing taxpayers having choice. Mainstream media may attempt to vilify individuals who provide their hard-earned resources to providing children with a way out. But those dollars are minuscule in comparison to the millions of our tax dollars that will be spent to maintain the status quo. What should be concerning us most is that many in education fear that, given an option, our public schools would experience a mass exodus as parents choose to exercise choice and leave public schools. The argument acknowledges that even the education bureaucracy has little confidence in their ability to provide customers satisfaction.
Will choice end the public schools as we know it? Certainly not, but those who rely on the current monopoly system would lead the public to think it would. Let’s face it. The new dropout rates indicate there is little likelihood we can do worse than we are now, particularly for minority students.The figures provide a wake up call – much as the study “A Nation at Risk” did in the early 1980’s. That study prompted tinkering with the current system, more studies were done, accountability measures were instituted, and more testing was mandated.
Nothing changed. The No Child Left Behind program was enacted, but clearly students are still being left behind. Time has run out for millions of minority youth. It’s time legislators give parents a choice and students a chance. Peggy (pvenable@afptx.org) is an Austin CEO Foundation board member and directs Americans for Prosperity-Texas.
No Child Left Behind August 1, 2007 NCLB reauthorization filed in Congress, by Association of Texas Professional Educators
A bill to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was filed July 12 by U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire) and cosponsored by Sen. Richard Burr (R-North Carolina). The bill, S. 1775, contains many of the same provisions as the original NCLB but calls for increased focus on growth models that would track student progress from year to year. The bill also contains new measures aimed at privatization of education services, including vouchers, and a proposal for a performance-based incentive pay program. No hearings have been scheduled yet on the bill. ATPE will follow its progress closely and keep you informed of the latest developments. For more information, contact ATPE Governmental Relations.
Capitol Annex July 19, 2007
Elected State Board of Education member Don McLeroy of Bryan was named chairman of the panel by Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday, giving a boost to the social conservative bloc on the board. McLeroy succeeds Geraldine Miller, who was term-limited as Chairwoman. Dr. McLeroy is one of seven members – all Republicans – who are generally identified with social conservatives and who often vote together on key issues such as textbook selection. There are also five Democrats and three moderate Republicans on the panel.
Board members are approaching a series of important decisions over the next two years as they revise curriculum standards for English, reading and writing later this year, and for science next year. The discussions about science standards are expected to trigger new debate over the coverage of evolution in biology and other science courses. “The most important area of responsibility for the board is setting the curriculum standards for our schools,” Dr. McLeroy said. “If we can improve standards and get them up to where they need to be, we can really help teachers in the classroom.”
Texas Commissioner of Education Shirley J. Neeley announced today that she is resigning as head of the Texas Education Agency. Interim Commissioner is Deputy Commission R. Scott. Neeley was appointed to the top public education post in January of 2004 by Gov. Rick Perry. Commissioner Neeley motivated her staff to work towards becoming a more "kinder, gentler, more customer friendly state agency"--something, said Connie Sadowski with the Austin CEO Foundation, "we all should strive for to benefit the children of Texas. We wish her well in all she endeavors." View Neeley personal letter, View the entire TEA press release.
Houston Chronicle June 18, 2007, 11:13AM Schools fail to meet law on dyslexia
Statistics show local districts are not aggressively identifying those struggling to read
by JENNIFER RADCLIFFE Copyright 2007
Hundreds of thousands of Texas children who struggle to read aren't getting the help they're entitled to because public schools are not following state law. Read more
The Texas Lyceum released June 12, 2007
The Texas Lyceum interviewed Texas adults during the April 26-May 7 period, talking to 1,002 adults, half of them female, half of them male. Four out of five said they are registered voters. One third are "extremely interested" in politics and public affairs and another 48% are "somewhat interested." Just over half — 51% — said they vote in "every"or "almost every" election. About a third of the respondents identified themselves as Hispanic, 11% as African American, and 54% as White. Almost two-thirds (65%) said they support a program "in which parents are given taxpayer money by the government that they can use to pay for a child's tuition at the school of their choice." Another 30 percent oppose such voucher programs, 20% of them strongly. The racial breakdowns on vouchers tracked those on faith-based initiatives, with Whites more likely to be in opposition and African Americans and Hispanics more likely to support the idea. And younger Texans were more supportive than older ones. Read entire study
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