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Miss
Information by Kristen Escovedo
My husband
attended private school.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I thought you should know.
Both of his parents were public school educators. In fact, his mother
completes her 37th year teaching kindergarten and first-grade in the
Fort Worth Independent School District this year. She is the kind of
teacher that high school seniors invite to their graduations and the
kind of teacher that goes to the graduation when she is invited. She is
the kind of teacher named when kids are asked, "Who made a difference
in your life?" When administrators want to highlight a classroom for
out of state visitors or when the media wants to see the pinnacle of
what elementary education should look like, they make a B-line for Ms.
Gracie's classroom.
(Miss Information is
a new feature column you'll see in each edition of our electronic
newsletter contributed by school PR pro Kristen Escovedo.)
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Sustaining Partners
Help us tell your story!
Don't forget we depend on your generosity to continue to share our
positive messages about our public schools with people across the state
in an effective manner, through our billboard campaign, posters,
monthly newsletter, presentations, and staff development trainings, to
highlight a few.
Please consider giving generously a tax-deductible contribution to
our non-profit organization. Donations are accepted by credit
card through our website, or by check made payable to Friends of Texas
Public Schools and mailed to 5717 Legacy Drive, Suite 250, in Plano, TX
75024.
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Texas
schools recognized for strong performance on AP exams
 Texas is recognized by the College Board as one of 20
states with the greatest percentage of students earning scores of three
or higher on Advanced Placement (AP) exams.
Tests are scored on a range
of one to five. Colleges and universities typically give college course
credit to those who earn scores of three, four or five.
Among students in Texas' high school
graduating Class of 2009, 76,875 or 28.7 percent took at least one AP
exam during high school, compared to 26.5 percent for the nation. That
represents a substantial increase from five years ago when 53,339 or
21.8 percent of the state's graduating seniors took an AP test sometime
during their high school career.
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Firefighters don't have
an image problem
Congratulations
to the Birdville ISD (northeast suburb of Fort Worth) for being the
first school district in Texas to certify a class of educators as
official Ambassadors of Texas Public Schools. Friends of Texas Public
Schools teamed up with Birdville ISD to pilot Ambassador Training, a
new and fresh approach to staff development it developed to help change
the conversation about Texas public schools from the inside
out.
The Ambassador
Training Academy addresses attitudes and mindsets, preparing
participants to step up as ambassadors (champions) for themselves,
their classrooms, their campuses, district, and their profession.
A group of 50
educators, representing each campus and department in Birdville ISD,
came together four times during the school year for a two-hour evening
session that challenged them to think differently about their roles as
educators. "We discussed the forces that weaken public trust and
confidence in public education," said Leslie Milder, founder of Friends
of Texas Public Schools, public school teacher, and lead facilitator of
the Birdville ISD Ambassador Training Academy. "We also discussed at
great length strategies for restoring public pride and confidence in
the public schools, and why it is critical that educators unite as
champions for the profession."
One of the
program's lessons includes drawing an analogy between firefighters and
educators. "Both professions are public servants, yet the image of a
firefighter is much different than today's image of an educator,"
Leslie said. "Everyone loves a fireman. They put out fires and save
lives."
"Educators are
putting out plenty of fires and saving plenty of lives also, but
everyone doesn't love an educator," Leslie says. "Why? Firefighters are
united as a brotherhood. They watch each other's backs. And, most
importantly, they tell people they have a cool job, that they love what
they do. Our actions as educators are often just the opposite. We are
not united as a brotherhood, we don't always watch each other's backs,
and we don't always speak well of our profession."
Friends of Texas
Public Schools, through Ambassador Training and other programs, aims to
change that mindset in educators. "I didn't learn anything about image
or public relations while studying to become a teacher," Leslie said.
"But what I've learned recently through our work with Friends of Texas
Public Schools is that image affects everything and that our poor image
is crippling our ability as educators to do the job that most of us
love to do."
It's also what
causes asinine propaganda like The War on Kids, a recently released
documentary (more like a docudrama) exploiting every stereotypical myth
ever written about public education." (Scroll down to the next headline
and click on the links to view the trailer.)
Following are a
few comments from Birdville ISD participants:
"The
Ambassador Training was an experience every teacher should have. We are
fortunate to be teachers in Texas public schools."
"I am truly blessed to have had this
opportunity. Thanks!"
"I loved the opportunity to look at my job
from a new perspective and to have learned how to take ownership of our
image."
"I have hope. Teaching chose me and I sometimes get distracted by talk
and the news and pessimism about our future in education. You are
providing a great service. Thank you for your hard work and commitment
to Texas public schools!"
For more information regarding ambassador training, contact Leslie
Milder at lmilder@fotps.org.
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Filmmakers declare war
on public education Texas alone at the top
 A new trend in bashing public education has taken form.
Independent filmmakers have found the subject fitting for the big
screen. Two recent documentaries, The War on Kids and Waiting
for Superman focus their lenses on the "failings of public
education." These documentaries are the result of a poor image and low
public confidence. We have got to unite as educators and begin
producing our own documentaries that tell the real story of public
education.
View movie
trailers:
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Our
Mission
The mission of Friends of Texas
Public Schools, the leading voice of optimism and hope for our public
school family, is to ensure positive and constructive conversation
about public schools by educating Texans through honest communication,
productive dialogue, and relentless encouragement.
Please
share our optimism for public education, pass us along to others.
Friends of Texas Public Schools
Scott Milder, President & Chief Executive
P.O. Box 1568
Rockwall, TX 75087
Phone: 214-497-6411
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