- Student outreach program empowers teens
- Texas public schools take additional steps to protect the integrity of the TAKS
- Dropout factories aren't found in schools
- $4.2 Million in Grants for T-STEM Academies and Early College High Schools
- Poised for Greatness
- Texas students outperform national average on NAEP math
- Texas schools are meeting NCLB requirements!
- Texas SAT scores rise in reading and math
- Friends Challenges Misleading Coverage
Friends of Texas Public Schools has released a second edition of its billboard series celebrating Texas Public Schools. This one posted last month on I-45 near Corsicana. Have you spotted a billboard? Would you like to sponsor a billboard in your area? Contact us at srmilder@shwgroup.com.
Perry
touts education gains at campaign stop in Houston Jan. 12, 2006, 1:59AM Making a stop in Houston on Wednesday, the second day of his campaign kickoff tour, Gov. Rick Perry touted improvements in education during his tenure but did not address the state's failure to enact court-ordered changes in school funding. TWO NEW ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS JOIN FRIENDS November 9, 2005 - Please join us in welcoming these new valuable additions to the FOTPS Advisory Board: Pam Meyercord, President, Texas PTA, Dallas; and David Backus, Partner, Underwood Attorneys and Counselors at Law, Lubbock.
TWO DECADES OF ACADEMIC GAINS HIGHLIGHTED IN REPORT ON "GOOD NEWS" IN AMERICAN EDUCATION WASHINGTON - August 3, 2005 - Today's students take tougher courses, achieve at
higher levels, and earn more college degrees than they
did twenty years ago, according to a new report focused
on the "good news" in American http://www.cep-dc.org/pubs/LatestGoodNews/LatestGoodNewsAug05.pdf
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WHAT AMERICA THINKS: SCHOOL MODERNIZATION, REPAIR A nationwide poll of voters (1,000 sample, margin of error +/- 3.1) conducted December 16-22, 2004, by two respected national pollsters-The Tarrance Group, a Republican firm, and Lake Snell and Perry, a Democratic firm-found that among projects the government could consider spending tax dollars on, an overwhelming 91 percent of voters surveyed said that "repairing unsafe and dilapidated school buildings" was an important priority. Of those, a large 66 percent rated it "very important" and 25 percent "somewhat important." On another question, 77 percent of voters polled said they agreed with the statement, "We are in urgent need of renovating existing school buildings." Moreover, a majority-51 percent-said they "strongly agreed" while 26 percent said they "somewhat agreed." High percentages of all demographic groups agreed on the need for renovating schools-notably, 82 percent of women and 86 percent of Hispanics were in agreement. In addition, the survey found that voters nationwide believe state and local governments are not doing a particularly good job of repairing dilapidated school buildings. Only 27 percent positively rate "state and local governments' ability to repair dilapidated school buildings." In fact, a whopping 11 times more voters rate them "poor" than "excellent" on this issue. "These results indicate that school construction and modernization is a big sleeper issue across the nation," said Ron Faucheux, vice president, AIA Government Advocacy. "Local, state, and federal officials would do well to keep these expressions of public opinion in mind as they craft budgets, develop issue priorities, and plan future campaigns." The survey was sponsored by the AIA Center for Communities by Design and the AIA Government Advocacy Team.
TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY RESPONSE TO DALLAS MORNING NEWS "A FAILING GRADE" ARTICLE Recent Article at DallasNews.com States: A recent study released by the Manhattan Institute provides both cause for concern and cause for hope for Texas high school students and the state. The study, called Public Education Graduation and
College-Readiness Rates: 1991-2002, found that only
32 percent of Texas students are well prepared for college. Nationally, about 34 percent of all students in the Class of 2002 met these qualifications, which are typically required for admission to a minimally selective four-year college. With an overall college-readiness rate of 32 percent for Texas, which is equal to the average for the western region of the country, the state obviously has work to do to adequately prepare its high school graduates for success in college. The study does, however, provide some positive news for the state. The state’s college-readiness rate has been climbing since 1996. The Texas College Readiness rate has gone from 25 percent in 1996 to 32 percent in 2002. That seven-point gain outpaces the change at the national level. The national college readiness rate was 29 percent in 1996 and 34 percent in 2002. The increase is attributable to changes the state has made in its education program in the past nine years. Since 1996, the state has ramped up its curriculum, raised its graduation requirements, and implemented more rigorous state testing and accountability programs. These efforts seem to be paying off. As with most education statistics, the remarkable progress of the state truly becomes apparent when the data is disaggregated. That data is available back to only 1997. Texas’ white college readiness figure jumped eight points – 32 to 40 percent – between 1997 and 2002. Nationally, there was only a 2 point gain from 38 percent to 40 percent during that period. Texas African-American college readiness figure exceeded the national average every year, moving from 21 percent in 1997 to 25 percent in 2002. That compares to 19 percent and 23 percent, respectively, at the national level. Hispanic college readiness figure jumped from a dismal 16 percent in 1997 to 23 percent in 2002. The increase was second only to Louisiana. Nationally, the figures moved from 17 percent to 20 percent. The scores are clearly not where we want them to be but they are moving up for all our student groups and that is encouraging news. There are major initiatives under way that leaders hope will push the college readiness figures much higher. Beginning in the fall of 2004, all entering high school students are automatically enrolled in the rigorous Recommended High School Graduation Plan. That 24-credit plan requires classes that include four years of English, three years of math and science, 3.5 years of social studies, a semester of economics and two years of a foreign language. Students and their parents must agree before a student can opt to follow the 22-credit minimum graduation plan. Texas is also participating in a major public-private
initiative called the Texas High School Project. The
initiative funds a number of grant programs which are
aimed at reducing the dropout rate and improving students’
chance for success in college. Texas is committed to improving the preparation for all its students.
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NEW CENTRAL TEXAS CHAPTER (TEMPLE-AUSTIN-SAN ANTONIO) OF FRIENDS BEING FORMED Interested participants in the Central Texas are encouraged to join! For more information, contact: Daryl Andrews
NEW HOUSTON CHAPTER OF FRIENDS UNDERWAY Due to the gaining interest of the FOTPS program among Houstonians, a Houston-based Chapter of the organization is being formed. Interested participants should contact: Priscilla Wright HOUSTON WELCOMES FRIENDS OF TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS! Click for highlights >
MY TURN TO TAKE
A TEST - AND CONSIDER ME HUMBLED OK, turnabout is fair play. It's my turn to be tested. Last Sunday, I talked about a little basic-knowledge test I gave to some young adults. The results were less than inspiring. Only half could name the governor of Texas. Only about a fourth could name the decade of the U.S. Civil War. That little quiz sure prompted a lot of discussion. Some young adults were a tad offended – and wanted me to know they scored much better than my sample. Other folks confirmed my findings – like the librarian who helped a young woman looking for information on Ozzy Osbourne because "isn't he the one who shot Kennedy?" A former college instructor told of a student amazed to learn the United States had fought a war against Japan. "Who won?" she asked. But listen, the object of that column was not to cast stones at anyone. I like a quote from Will Rogers: "We're all ignorant – only on different subjects." I freely confess that young adults are savvy in many areas that I'm clueless. The real issue here is "basic knowledge" – identifying that core of information that we all need to succeed individually and work together as self-governing citizens. In that vein, some readers challenged me to take another basic-knowledge test – the one high-schoolers must pass to graduate these days. I was soon sorry I brought the whole subject up! When it comes to tests, it's definitely more blessed to give than to receive. I wrestled with that TAKS test for about four hours – almost two on the math portion alone. And I was certainly humbled. I suspect many of you would be, too. Unless, of course, you have no trouble picking out the ordered pair that represents one of the roots of the function f(x) = 2x{+2} + 3x - 20. Just for the record, it was (- 4, 0). And I know only because the answer key told me so. Naturally enough, I breezed through the language arts and social studies portions of the test – getting a 98 and a 96 on those. But I made only a 67 on the science portion and a dismal 45 on the infernal math section. And I liked those subjects in school! Taking this TAKS test brought a couple of things to mind. One is that we don't respect young people enough for their efforts in school. As adults, we tend to roll school and childhood together into one merry memory. We forget that learning is hard work. I sure remembered that as I tried to recall whether elements in Group 16 of the periodic table usually (a) form large molecules (b) gain electrons when bonding (c) act like metals (d) solidify at room temperature. I'm so, so glad that a job in journalism doesn't require me to know that they gain electrons when bonding. The second thought that came strongly to mind is that this test will be the ruin of many good kids. What started out as a good idea – standardized testing to make sure kids don't graduate without basic learning – has turned into an academic monster. All students are not created equally. But this test treats them like they're all headed to MIT. And it really puts our schools in an impossible position. If too many students fail, a school is branded as low-performing. If too many students quit, well, that's low-performing, too. I'll tell you, taking that test, I sure understood the frustration that leads many students to quit. I haven't felt so defeated and demoralized in a long time. I know there's some irony here. Last week, I was lamenting that young adults know so little. This week, I'm saying we demand too much. Surely there's a middle ground here – a way to challenge the future engineer without chasing off the future chef or bricklayer. By all means, try the test for yourself. Do an Internet search for the Texas Education Agency, and then look for "released tests." We need to push our kids – but not out the door. Reference this Dallas Morning News article at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/103104dnmetblow.76e2d.html ###
NEW SYSTEM HELPS SCHOOL DISTRICTS
TRACK STUDENTS A new web-based system to transfer student records electronically across schools and school districts is in place in 30 percent of the 1,031 school districts in Texas, organizers said Wednesday. Currently, student records are paper transcripts that are mailed or hand carried between schools and districts and can take up to six months to arrive. The system can eliminate situations like the one encountered by a student who took geometry three times because his records did not arrive at each new school on time, said Roberto Gonzalez, chairman of the Educational Policy Committee of The Houston A+ Challenge. The Web Enabled Student Transfer System, or WEST, was piloted in the Texas Education Agency Region IV Education Service Center’s 54 school districts, which include the Houston metropolitan area. WEST, which also automates tracking of departed students, is an interface that sits on top of whatever student information management system a district uses. WEST then allows the districts and schools to pass transcripts back and forth. “Great improvements can be achieved in public education when it receives adequate public support,” said Harry Reasoner, chairman of the board of Houston A+ Challenge. “WEST is an example of one of those improvements.” Benefits of WEST: - Eliminates wasted classroom time, teacher time and counselor time by providing schools with immediate access to student records to place new students in the right classes. - Eliminates loss of financial aid by knowing, at registration time, the programs for which new students are qualified. - Reduces paperwork and labor costs required for manual consolidation, assembly and mailing of records for students who leave the district or graduate. - Reduces labor costs required for manual re-entry of student record data for students who transfer into a campus from a participating school district. - Provides schools immediate access to critical information for a student’s Personal Graduation Plan. - Eliminates redundant data and systems and reduce costs for participants. - Provides critical information for economic workforce development. - Provides accurate data on student achievement. - Provides accurate data on high school completion. “WEST does four things for us,” said Margaret Stroud, deputy superintendent of the Houston Independent School District. It enables the district to know immediately where students are when they change schools; it speeds up administrators’ ability to ensure the students get placed in the correct classes; it provides “real time” information and it will aid the district in the new student advocacy initiative launched recently, she said. WEST was developed after a meeting of the Greater Houston Partnership Education and Workforce Development Committee in which the Houston A+ Challenge offered to raise funding to create a web-based record transfer system. At the meeting, superintendents from several Houston area districts told the committee one of the barriers to increasing the local high school graduation rate was the lag time in transferring records when students left one school and enrolled in another. In addition, students who did not re-enroll often could not be found with the system in place today. “The Education Policy Committee of the Greater Houston Partnership sees this effort as a result of business and education searching for a practical answer to help with student mobility,” said John Cater, retired Chairman of Compass Bank and a member of the Greater Houston Partnership Education and Workforce Advisory Committee. “We applaud the efforts by school districts, organizations and business to come together to create an effort that crosses district lines on behalf of students.” The Texas Business and Education Coalition and Triand, Inc., an Austin-based technology company, agreed to work to develop the system. The Region IV Education Service Center agreed to house the system on its servers and pilot WEST in its 54 school districts. Aldine ISD was one of the first districts to implement WEST, while Houston ISD agreed to provide training for other school districts. IBM donated equipment needed to support operation of WEST. Houston Endowment Inc. agreed to provide the majority of the funding for the one-year pilot. “WEST will make it faster and easier to personalize our services to our students”, said Wanda Bamberg, assistant superintendent in the Aldine Independent School District. “It will help us be much more successful with advocacy and the personal graduation plan for each student.” ###
TEXAS, SAY HELLO TO YOUR
NEWEST TEAM OF SCHOOL CHEERLEADERS DALLAS, Texas – Fall is in the air. The morning bell rings. Students head to class. Teachers dust off chalkboards, open books, and start their lessons. And in a non-descript conference room in North Dallas, a team of influential Texans works on an ambitious cheerleading project: one of the first major statewide public awareness and reputation campaigns for Texas public schools – funded exclusively by a non-profit organization, Friends of Texas Public Schools, a 501-3(C). In September, Friends of Texas Public Schools launched a comprehensive website, www.fotps.org, to promote the positives in education and help strengthen faith in Texas public schools. Through the website, people can contribute directly to Friends and read more about public school success stories. “It’s unimaginable to me how society routinely attacks what should be our greatest friends -- the people and places that educate our children,” said Scott Milder, a vice president with SHW Group Architects, a national school design firm based in Dallas. Milder founded Friends of Texas Public Schools with his wife Leslie, a government teacher at John Horn High School in Mesquite. “Texans have a right to know the good news -- that their children are in good hands in our public schools,” Milder said. The couple approached influential Texans and Texas-based businesses to support Friends of Texas Public Schools. “I am thrilled beyond words that Scott Milder has launched Friends of Texas Public Schools. Together, we can and will restore pride and confidence in the greatest public schools in the world,” said Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley. Friends set up a working board of directors and an advisory board. Board members and sponsors include SHW Group Architects, Southwest Airlines, Eddie Deen’s Ranch, Texas Tech University, PR Newswire, Texas School Business Magazine, WebXess, Inc., the Education Foundation of Harris County, Visualeyes, Charlie Fern Ink, Fast Fix Jewelry Repair (Lakeline-Austin), Camelot Communications, and Bank of America. “We’re pleased we could sign on to help support this cause,” said Friends board member Linda Rutherford, who is director of public relations for Southwest Airlines. “Every company in Texas should recognize the importance of our public school systems being held in the highest regard.” Friends board members concede that public schools aren’t perfect – but they insist that Texans need to hear more about the triumphs and successes in schools. “Of course schools have pitfalls. But they are doing remarkably well to meet the challenges of rising standards, complex policy, public scrutiny and budget battles,” said Friends board member Charlie Fern, a former White House speechwriter who now runs Charlie Fern Ink Communications in Austin, Texas. “We should spend as much energy pointing out what’s right about our schools as we do pointing out what’s wrong with them. Let’s continue to raise the bar for our public schools, and when they reach that bar, let’s celebrate their success together.“ The organization believes that restoring pride in schools will have tremendous results. “If we can restore public confidence in our schools, then we can help improve performance across the board,” said Friends board member Dyan Kochis, director of account service at the Dallas firm Visualeyes. “We can encourage more people to partner with schools, and inspire excellent teachers to return to the profession. There are 600,000 professionals who are licensed to teach in Texas, but only half of them are teaching – many left the profession because they were totally demoralized. We need to bring them back into the classrooms.” The public awareness and reputation campaign will launch in January 2005 and will include a statewide public opinion poll which will be published on the website; a massive statewide outdoor advertising program; and radio and television public service announcements. Milder asserts that there’s plenty of good news to talk about. Friends of Texas Public Schools’ success will depend on the support of business partners and the citizens of Texas. “We have just launched a 100,000 Friends campaign that will provide the lion’s share of funding required to meet the budget,” Milder said. Texans can become official Friends for $25. Visit the Friends of Texas Public Schools website at www.fotps.org to learn more about the organization and find out how to become a Friend. Those who would like to become a founding partner can contact Scott Milder directly at srmilder@shwgroup.com. # # #
I attended the Back to School pep rally
tonight. It was awesome!! What Thanks for the wonderful inspiration! What a remarkable vision! Judy Thompson, Ed. D. LOOK IN MIRROR TO SEE WHY LEGISLATORS DON'T TAKE ACTION Abilene Reporter-News By Randy Pool Last week I wrote an opinion column concerning the inadequacies of our Legislature with regards to school finance. I abandoned my pledge to refrain from mean-spirited name-calling and was quite indignant toward them. I wrote ''They remind me of a bunch of deadbeat dads always finding a reason to not pay child support.'' I called their financing plan a tax shift scam hiding behind a lot of double talk about schools. I even threw in some Scripture saying it would be easier to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than for our legislators to put the needs of our children ahead of the wants of wealth and influence. Later I called Terri Burke, and asked her not to print that letter. Why, because I was wrong. It dawned on me I was blaming the wrong guys. The reason our legislators have not passed a landmark education bill guaranteeing the future of our schools is we have not demanded they do so. In my earlier letter, I lambasted our legislators only listening to the lobbyists. But a lobbyist can only excel in the vacuum of apathy. What if Judge Dietz had ruled deer hunting rather than school funding was unconstitutional? The cry of outrage across this state would make a veteran politician tremble with re-election anxiety. If the right to blow up Bambi wasn't reinstated before opening day, we would see senators and representatives alike tagged, cleaned and strapped to the grilles of pickups from Beaumont to El Paso. So why isn't it the same for schools. We are merely days away from a court mandated closing and the subject rarely comes up. Sure, there have been a couple of letters to the editor about school finance but not near as many as those fearful our City Council may screw up our chances of getting a new restaurant. Many seniors wrote passionate letters stating the president's Social Security plan would ruin their grandchildren's retirement. I promise you, what our state government does with our schools will have a much greater impact on the quality of our grandchildren's retirement than anything our federal government does with Social Security. Perhaps the problem is we just don't care that Texas recently ranked 50th (last) in high school graduation rates, 48th in SAT scores, 45th in secondary teachers with degrees in the subject they teach, 32nd in average teacher pay, 49th in tax revenue raised and 49th in expenditures per capita. Does it not bother us we spend almost three times more money on a prisoner than we do on a school child? I hope this is not true. Perhaps we are so consumed with the day-to-day trials of living that we rarely think about our schools. Maybe like food, water, air, health and love, they are such an integral part of our lives we rarely consider them unless something goes terribly wrong. If this is the case, I hope they close them. I hope the hallways fall silent, the classrooms become dark and the cafeterias go empty. No morning's pledge of allegiance, no PTA, no Friday night lights. If they take them from us, we might learn to value them again. If we are forced to go without, we may start to realize how our future depends on them. Maybe closing our schools will open our eyes. A community can be no better than the schools within it. Whether they will actually close or not, I don't know, but I have learned one thing. In the future, I will be careful blaming politicians for the shortcomings of their electorate. Randy Pool owns Abilene Ice and is an occasional
columnist.
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