Grading Texas

Without change in Legislature, education goal will wither

It is great to set ambitious educational goals, as the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is expected to do today for the emerging generation of Texans. It would be even better to see them realized, but that will be a big problem, given the prevailing head-in-the-sand mindset of the Texas Legislature.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, the Coordinating Board will adopt a new strategic plan for at least 60 percent of Texas residents aged 25-34 to have a higher education degree or certificate by 2030. At present, only 38 percent of Texans in that age group have postsecondary credentials.

“With population growth projected to be greatest among Hispanics, a group with below-average graduation rates, the challenge going forward is daunting,” reporter Ralph K.M. Haurwitz writes.

“Daunting” may not be a strong enough word, considering the legislative majority’s record in under-funding both higher and public education. As recently as last spring, the Legislature left billions of dollars in the bank while refusing to take any steps toward drafting an adequate, fair and constitutional school funding system.

The Coordinating Board needs to set goals. They remind us how far we need to go, and maybe they will provoke some attention. But as long as the legislative majority persists in dancing to the tea party’s tune and refuses to make the necessary investments in Texas’ young people and their future, this goal may as well be pie in the sky.

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/15-year-higher-education-plan-expected-to-be-adopt/nm5SW/

Waiting in the dark for school supplies

With temperatures in Central Texas nearing 100 degrees, it is almost time for a new school year. I know that may not make a lot of sense, but it is the way it is. I hope all the air conditioners are working when teachers, staff and students report back to campus, although that may be a dicey proposition in some school districts, given the state of education funding in Texas.

Another sign of the approaching school year was the long line outside Allan Elementary School in East Austin yesterday. According to the Austin American-Statesman, parents from low-income families started arriving as early as 3:30 a.m. to get free backpacks, each filled with $40 worth of school supplies and clothing for their children. Many parents waited three hours in the dark because they didn’t want to be late for their jobs. Yes, most poor people work.

The line also started forming so early because the need is great. Some 60 percent of students in Austin ISD are from low-income families, a percentage that is about typical of the state as a whole. This event was sponsored by the Manos de Cristo charity, which because of resources had to limit its giveaway to 2,000 children, but it likely will be repeated by other charities throughout the state.

And the average Texas teacher – who is paid less than teachers in most other states — will dig about $700 out of his or her own pocket to help pay for classroom supplies before the new school year is out, according to TSTA’s most recent survey.

So, a lot of people are preparing for the new school year – teachers, administrators, parents, students, charities. And many are doing so at financial sacrifice.

And, what is the state leadership doing? Besides congratulating itself for being “pro-education”?

It is continuing, of course, to under-fund the public schools while it fights a state district court ruling that the schools are so poorly funded that the funding system is unconstitutional. House Public Education Chairman Jimmie Don Aycock of Killeen tried to convince his colleagues to start getting serious about school funding during last spring’s session, but the legislative majority insisted instead on spending billions of dollars on tax reductions and leaving billions of additional dollars in the bank.

Now, state leaders are hoping the Texas Supreme Court will reverse or weaken the lower court decision. Meanwhile, as The Dallas Morning News reported this week, many school districts are receiving less in funding per student than they did in the 2010-11 school year.

If only the state of Texas had the same sense of urgency for education as teachers, parents and charities do.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local-education/some-austinites-wait-3-hours-in-the-dark-for-schoo/nm3rn/?icmp=statesman_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesmanpremium

Playing politics – and worse — with history

I read a media report that said some of the protesters waving Confederate battle flags at President Obama in Oklahoma earlier this week arrived in vehicles with Texas license plates. Why am I not surprised?

The border crossers hail from a state where political leaders have made Obama-bashing a daily litany. The governor, when he was attorney general, built a political resume suing the president and still brags about it. Texas also is a state where the State Board of Education tried to rewrite history by claiming “states’ rights” as a more significant cause of the Civil War than the real reason – slavery.

The board fictionalized some social study curriculum standards more than four years ago, but the standards are receiving media attention again because they are now showing up in new textbooks. Thank goodness that schoolteachers who know better will have the final say in classrooms.

The Confederate flag wavers, of course, were exercising their constitutional right to cross the Red River and demean themselves. But would they have done so if President Obama were not the first African American to occupy the White House?

Not every defender of the Confederate flag is motivated simply by a sense of “heritage,” folks.

A dangerous anti-educator enters the presidential race

In a field littered with bad candidates, presidential hopeful Scott Walker may be the worst choice for educators and other public employees.

The Wisconsin governor, who announced today that he is running for the White House, made a national name for himself attacking teachers and other public workers – and their unions – and, in so doing, he trashed his own state. Now, he wants to trash the rest of the country, and his campaign already is attracting some big anti-government, anti-union, privatization bucks to give him a fighting start toward the Republican nomination.

Although Walker will continue to try to spin his Wisconsin record into a fairy tale, here are some of the real nightmare lowlights, as gleaned from various media sources, including the Associated Press:

# Wisconsin’s middle class has shrunk at a rate faster than any other state, according to a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

# Weakened employment rights for teachers, bus drivers, school nurses, cafeteria workers and thousands of other government workers, many of whom have lost jobs. Those who are still working have to pay more for their pensions and health care benefits. Remember, these are the real people he is taking about when he brags about attacking unions, which likely will be the overriding theme of his campaign.

# Removed tenure protections for higher education faculty and slashed higher education funding by $250 million. The cuts were to help close a $2.2 billion shortfall created by previous Walker policies, including ill-advised and counterproductive tax cuts.

# Expanded Wisconsin’s private school voucher program, while claiming credit for educational improvements that predated his administration.

# Wisconsin’s job growth trails the national average as well as other Midwestern states.

# The state’s chief economic development agency has been plagued by problems, including the granting of millions of dollars in business loans without properly vetting the recipients.

These are only some of Walker’s bad policies. He is a career politician who has made a career of bashing the public employees who make government work. He has been a disaster for Wisconsin and would be a disaster for the country.

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