Grading Texas

State Sen. Dan Patrick’s thinking on a number of issues, including the importance of small class sizes, is (to put it politely) muddled. Consider his interview with KTRKTV (Channel 13, Houston), which aired yesterday in a news story about a proposal, which he supports, to remove the 22student per class limit in kindergarten through fourth grade.

“I would argue education is not working perfectly – our dropout rate is pretty high,” he said. “It doesn’t mean the money is the issue. It may be the quality of teaching. It may be the programs we are offering.”

If Patrick thinks the dropout rate is high now – and it is, thanks to more handwringing than intervention from Austin – it will be even worse within a few years after superintendents cram seven or eight more kids into primary grade classrooms, which is what many will do if the 221 cap is lifted. People like Patrick (and there will be a lot of them casting votes under the Capitol dome this year) refuse to grasp the reality that young students in the early grades need a lot of individual attention from teachers to learn the basics, realize the importance of education and be prepared for the challenges of the higher grades. This is particularly true for disadvantaged students, many of whom soon will drop out if they don’t get that early, individual attention.

I don’t know what Patrick thinks he knows about the quality of teaching, but large classes in K4 will require many teachers to spend most of their time babysitting, rather than actually teaching.

Money is a crucial issue in public education – it pays for teachers, textbooks, labs, computers, school buses, etc, etc and it is preposterous for Patrick or anyone else to suggest otherwise. State support for the public schools is woefully inadequate, as well as inequitable, which is why some school superintendents now are alltoowilling to make shortsighted compromises on quality, including the 221 cap, which they will regret later. When parents start raising heck about crowded classrooms, they will blame principals and superintendents before they blame lawmakers.

As the TV story points out, districts already can apply for state waivers from 221 if the limit is unduly expensive.

Former Gov. Mark White, who was in office when 221 was first enacted in 1984, and teacher Frances Smith, president of Cy Fair TSTA, also are featured in the KTRK story, and both make strong arguments for keeping the limit.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7881833

State Rep.elect David Simpson of Longview, one of the conservatives riding the big Republican wave in November, admits he still has a “lot to learn” on the eve of taking office next week. So, to learn something about the public schools, he invited East Texas educators to a meeting in his new district.

Unfortunately, however, he scheduled the meeting during a school day. So, the real educational experts, of course, were in class, teaching. I don’t know if they were even invited. But nine school administrators – six superintendents and three assistant superintendents from eight school districts – did show up. And, guess what they wanted to complain about? Bureaucracy and red tape, according to the Longview NewsJournal, which covered the meeting.

Imagine that.

I am all for eliminating wasteful bureaucracy and red tape. But, maybe, Simpson will schedule another meeting – on a weekend with teachers – so he can also learn something about education, things like the importance of class sizes, uptodate textbooks, adequately equipped science labs and teacher mentoring.

That’s what teachers do. They teach people who have much to learn, and they do a very good job of it. But students, including new legislators, also have to listen.

http://www.newsjournal.com/news/local/article_1c00d2daee805d10b0e24c41b59cabfb.html

Happy New Year, everyone, a sincere greeting even in the face of a legislative session to which hardly anyone (except maybe some Tea Partiers) looks forward. And, ugh, it begins next week.

In reviewing the news clips of the past two weeks, I noticed that former Gov. Mark White has made some very strong arguments for retaining the 221 classsize limit for kindergarten through fourth grade, an important educational reform under attack by school superintendents and the state leadership as a shortsighted means of addressing the state’s revenue shortfall.

In another news item, even former House Speaker Tom Craddick, RMidland, who can slash and burn budgets without blinking an eye, acknowledged the 221 limit has been on the books since 1984 because it works. It improves the learning climate for the state’s youngest students.

Shortly before the holidays, state Comptroller Susan Combs recommended that the 221 limit be replaced with a 22student average, a move that in the short term could save money. But it would be at the expense of thousands of teachers’ jobs and, in the long run, cost taxpayers more in higher dropout rates, a more poorly prepared work force and the higher social and criminal justice costs associated with them.

White, the son of a public school teacher, was governor when the 221 limit was imposed as part of the farreaching House Bill 72 educational reforms in 1984. He and Rep. Scott Hochberg, DHouston, also a strong supporter of 221, were interviewed by Margaret Downing, who wrote an excellent article in the Houston Press (first link below).

Research has shown that smaller classes improve the learning environment, the article points out. It also notes that districts already can request and receive waivers from the state when 221 becomes too heavy a financial burden.

Hochberg said there are other ways to save money in the public schools, including the use of more electronic textbooks and cutting back on state standardized testing. Students who pass could be tested less frequently, he suggested.

White pointed out that there is, indeed, a significant difference between an actual limit on class sizes and merely an average. That’s because some K4 classes, including those for special education students, are considerably smaller than 22. Figuring them into a 221 average would enable superintendents to pack many more students into other classes. He cited his mother’s experience as a firstgrade teacher in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The law then allowed a class average of 28 students, but White has a photo showing 34 students in his mother’s class.

That is what parents worry about, including one who was featured recently in a news report by CBS 7 News in Midland (see second link below). The larger the classes for the youngest students, the more teachers will be forced to baby sit, instead of teach, they fear. In the same TV report, Craddick acknowledged the 221 limit has worked.

“I think our scores are going up, and students are getting more attention,” he is quoted. “I don’t want to go backwards but forwards in education.”

The former speaker said he will keep a close eye on the issue but didn’t commit himself.

Meanwhile, several newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle and today’s Austin AmericanStatesman, have published an op ed article by TSTA President Rita Haecker, warning against lifting the 221 cap and otherwise eroding educational quality under the guise of “local control.” The relaxing of state mandates by the Legislature – in lieu of adequately funding public education – would enable lawmakers to pass the blame for educational failures to local school officials, Haecker points out. Her article is the third link below.

http://www.houstonpress.com/20101230/news/thewhippingboy/

http://cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=23158

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/haeckerdontletstatebudgetwoesundermineeducation1159113.html

I won’t be blogging for the next couple of weeks. It’s time to start enjoying the holidays and resting up for the legislative session.

Happy Holidays! See you next year.