PUBLIC SCHOOLS #1

The public schools in Texas must meet the needs of the students. The current college prep curriculum that is in place is not in the best interest of all students. There are students who do not need and who have no desire to attend college. Under the current program these students are harming the college bound by slowing down the classes as they struggle to grasp the subject. These students need to be given a sellable skill to take to the market place upon graduation. There must be more technological training available to the students who want that type of education. This is not a proposal to lower standards. It will raise the standards by enabling the college bound students to advance more rapidly in their classes thus being better prepared and by enabling the others to get the type of education they need to succeed in life.

The control of the schools must be returned to the citizens of the districts. The number of unfunded mandates coming from the state are increasing yearly. If the state wants a program instituted in the schools, the state should pay the cost. If the state is not willing to play the cost, then the program is not needed. The locally elected school board knows the needs of the individual district, and they must have the freedom to help their district. The one-size fits all solutions sent from Austin are seldom in the interest of the students of the state.

The excessive testing that the schools are forced to do are detrimental to the students learning because the teachers are forced to teach the test and not the class. It is time to totally eliminate the TAKS test. The schools can be evaluated by setting bench marks of achievement for the elementary and junior high school students and by implementing end of the year testing in junior high and high school classes. Standards can be raised by having the teachers teach the subject and not teach the test. The college prep classes will be better able to present all of the materials the students will need to be adequately prepared for college. Those who are college bound can be tested by using the ACT and SAT college entrance tests.

Every child does not need to be tested. Those in self-contained programs must be exempted. It amounts to child abuse to force our special students in these classes to be tested.

The school calendar must be adjusted to better serve the schools. The idea that money can be saved on utilities by starting school at the end of August instead of earlier in August is a fallacy. The schools have activities prior to the start of school for students and for teachers which require the use of the utilities and in reality most schools do not experience enough significant savings to justify the disservice done to the students by the late start. The idea that vacations can be taken during August is absurd. The current calendar forces schools to go into June with classes. The best time for a vacation is June not August. The idea that the schools can eliminate days during the year to avoid having school in June is equally invalid. The elimination of fall and spring breaks and other holidays prevent families from taking vacations at those times of the year, and thus cost the businesses and communities money. The calendar must be set to serve the best interests of the students.

The Charter Schools must be brought under more state regulation. We do not need any more Lynacre Academy fiascos.