Texas School Children Deserve Better

Dear friend,

In a previous newsletter, I discussed questions that came up during meetings of the District Advisory Committees, which are helping identify issues that can be taken to the Legislature.

The committees cover such subjects as Renewable Energy, Green Jobs, Environment, Health Care, and Veterans and Women Veterans.

In this report we focus on the recommendations made by the District Advisory Committee on Education, which addressed questions that included:

* How do we fund education fully and fairly, and make sure class sizes are small and instructional materials are available?
* How do we make sure students are learning, while at the same time not letting testing replace teaching?
* What can we do to support successful programs in such areas as early childhood education and distance learning?
* What can we do to make college more affordable, accessible, and, in the case of two-year colleges, equitable?

FUNDING

Education funding is an ongoing legislative question. Every couple of years we go through the same battles. In the last session budget writers cut $5.4 billion from the budget. Thousands of teachers lost their jobs, while enrollment rose.

Simply put, we need more teachers and a better student-teacher ratio in the classrooms. We also need equity and adequacy of funding for school facilities, at-risk students, instructional materials, technology, and other necessities.

In the short term, we must look at using the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which is expected to have more than $7 billion. But for the future we must arrive at a fair revenue formula. The state constitution requires efficient and adequate funding for education, and the current system, weighted so heavily toward local property taxes, is neither efficient nor adequate. However, it is likely the courts will have to nudge the Legislature, as they have before. Here’s a piece from the Texas Tribune outlining the different school finance lawsuits, and here’s a good take on the potential impact of one of the lawsuits, from the Texas Association of Business.

Unless we resolve this, again likely requiring court intervention, we will continue to fail our constitutional duty to ensure our children obtain an adequate education.

LEARNING AND TESTING

Five months ago, I supported Education Commissioner Robert Scott’s decision to delay full implementation of State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) because there are simply too many unanswered questions and little guidance. Before we implement the rule that makes the STAAR test 15 percent of a student’s grade, we must give teachers and students the necessary resources and tools to meet these new challenges. The question of whether weighting the test so heavily it skews the picture of a student’s achievements aside, different school districts have different policies in how it’s applied, which will lead to some ludicrous outcomes.

In some school districts, a passing grade means the student gets all 15 percent, even if they passed with a low percentage. So even if the test is a fair review of student achievement, its implementation is inconsistent and self-defeating in some cases.

This is one reason the Texas Association of School Administrators passed a resolution, supported by area districts, that states in part, “The over reliance on standardized, high stakes testing as the only assessment of learning that really matters is strangling our public schools,” and calls on the Legislature to reexamine the current test-based accountability system.

SUPPORTING SUCCESS

One of the best investments we can make is in Head Start, which aside from the good it does is also cost-effective. Estimates vary, but there is no question that it returns more than it costs. Students in Head Start — which prepares children for school through nutrition, education, health and other social serves — are more likely to finish high school, get better paying jobs, and stay out of jail.

The state also ought to take a look at joining the Common Core State Standards, which all but five states have adopted. These are k-12, evidence-based standards in English language arts and mathematics designed by teachers, administrators and other experts and stakeholders to define knowledge and skills for success in college and workforce training.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative was led by the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers and has been supported by both Republican and Democratic law and policy makers.

ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Dual credit allows high school students to gain college credit; those courses ought to be reviewed for cost, funding mechanisms, quality and consistency, and the possibility of implementing a statewide system.

Distance learning has become more popular, and the Senate Committee on Education has as one of its interim charges to “Study the growing demand for virtual schools in Texas. Review the benefits of virtual schools, related successes in other states, and needed changes to remove barriers to virtual schools.”

We ought to consider incentives for college completion in the form of discounted tuition, up to 50 percent depending on GPA, in all two- and four-year institutions.

We need to fund remedial programs in Reading, Math and English at two-year colleges.

OTHER ISSUES

* We should make sure transition and job skills are part of career and technical training.

* The committee recommended opposition to privatizing the Teachers Retirement System, which should remain a defined benefit, not a contribution. It also said no to vouchers and tax credits, and no to linking test scores to teacher evaluations.

* The committee recommended reviewing charter schools, which may have an advantage because they can cherry pick students, and have lesser responsibilities toward all students, whether at-risk or eligible under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we must restore trust in the El Paso Independent School District. Students have been cheated. We need to find out what happened to them. There are local governance issues, and there are state issues. We should not rush to judgment of the school board and act without a full investigation. In doing so, we would risk giving our community yet another black eye. If an investigation reveals misconduct on the part of school board members, then state law provides a mechanism for their removal. The local governance is under scrutiny and should be, and so should the state policy and practice.

Sincerely,

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