Texas State Board of Education v Race to the Top: Who will win?

Lest you think it gets (politically) boring -- ever -- down in Texas, I'll disabuse you of that notion citing the current battle over the minds of Texas schoolchildren. Like Biblical, Classical and Mythological figures (to be fair to all points of view), the Indoctrinate side has squared off against the Educate side.

Let's consider the context around this curriculum standards debate, first: Texas is 49th in the US for verbal SAT scores, 46th for math SAT scores, 36th in high school graduation rates, only six (2 public and 4 private) of Texas’ 145 higher education institutions are ranked among the nation’s top 100, and from fiscal years 1999 to 2006, average tuition and fees at public universities have increased 95.5% while college degree rates are under 25% (all data public information from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts). And yet, we rank 14th in government expenditures on higher education. (You might also like to review the ratings and rankings of Texas public schools.) Texas is 38th for education expenditures and education. And yet, only 9.5% of our schools are exemplary and we aren't in the top half ranking of states for public school performance...we're in the bottom of the bottom half.

When US public schools were graded, Texas received a low score (below a C). In that, report education expert Christopher B. Swanson, vice president of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit organization that publishes Education Week, said

“A convergence of political and economic factors has generated a great deal of momentum behind the push for common standards right now,” Swanson added. “But the success of this movement will ultimately hinge on follow-through on key issues like aligning curriculum with the common standards, supporting high-quality instruction, and measuring student performance against the new expectations.”

Unfortunately, as per typical, Texas leaders are not aligning themselves with common high standards, which now is the current Administration's program Race to the Top. Instead, the Texas State Board of Education is making changes to public school curriculum that Indoctrinate rather than Educate. In short, after modifying science to support creationism theory, the SBOE is now working to rewrite history to be more white male and less minorities and women.

Read more about it:

Texas Conservatives Win Vote on Textbook Standards - NYTimes.com

Texas Textbook MASSACRE: 'Ultraconservatives' Approve Radical Changes To State Education Curriculum

Historians speak out against proposed Texas textbook changes

U.S. history textbooks could soon be flavored heavily with Texas conservatism

Not content with their attacks on science, the SBOE has now denigrated history, economics, and social studies. The changes aren't limited to Texas, either. As the second largest consumer of textbooks in the US, the changes will be incorporated into new editions and will likely invade other school children's lessons, too. Throughout the US.

I recently had the opportunity to speak to Tim Kaine, current Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. I asked about how the DNC will ensure high academic standards and support public education, students and concerned parents after these controversial curriculum changes. Chairman Kaine was happy to discuss how pleased and excited he was about Race to the Top, but he carefully sidestepped addressing the Texas curriculum changes.

To summarize, Chairman Kaine's highlights include:

• it's not enough to not fall behind, a la no child left behind, we need to focus on pushing excellence, not just competence

-- that sounds great in theory, but how do we accomplish that, especially with rogue states such as Texas, who are off the rails into Indoctrination instead of Education? Clearly the SBOE here is more interested in pushing their philosophical agenda rather than raising Texas education standards and improving not just our national ranking, but our students' future ability to compete in the global marketplace. We're already not doing that well releasing students with skills that make them excel in the market. Our science and technology is lagging, and that's just the beginning. Our verbal (see stats above) is even worse. That means students have poor reading, comprehension, communication, and vocabulary skills.

• Race to the Top will reward states who proffer dramatic updates to curriculum, that way it's not just money heading to some or wealthy districts

-- I confess this point eludes me. Texas is making dramatic updates to curriculum, but not in an improving way as per the definition of reaching towards excellence and expert statement that success depends upon a push for aligning common educational standards.

• The DNC, current administration and the Race to the Top program are all determined to reach excellence in education, which includes raising our common standards up to international standards and benchmarks

-- if education is the cornerstone of societal economic and global competitive success -- and there is a strong argument supporting that -- then this goal is on target. Again, though, how? Again, considering rogue states such as Texas. Chairman Kaine said he wants to see the US benchmark against the best countries in the world. I'd like to see that too, in a positive frame, but first, don't we need to get our standards in good shape and implemented in an organized way across states? Not to mention, how many states are going to gracefully accept federal standards? Schools are notoriously, and understandably, hyperlocal.

Texans can expect that this issue will be key in the upcoming governor's race. Candidate Bill White, former mayor of Houston has already issued a position statement about the revised curriculum standards in Texas. Today, his wife, Andrea White, noted attorney, children's book author, and advocate for children and education, stated, 

"We know not to mess with Texas. But no one should mess with Texas' books either! 

Books offer so much to all of us, especially young people. 

Books inspire and teach. They help kids understand their world and how they fit into it. 

It's the reason I've written several books for kids and young adults. And it's the reason I'm so disappointed by the State Board of Education's decision to politicize what our kids read and learn in school, like its decision to remove Thomas Jefferson from a social studies curriculum standard. 

As governor, Bill would never appoint a Chair of the Board of Education who plays politics with our textbooks and classrooms."

Texans -- and the rest of the US who cares about public education -- can hope that a new leader will get politics out of education and curriculum, and improve the standards, including possibly adopting the national Race to the Top standards. Although it was vague and he didn't address my question about how the DNC anticipates succeeding in states like Texas, what I heard from Chairman Kaine sounds much better than what is coming out of the SBOE in Austin.

I'll back -- any day -- a plan that focuses on excellence and education over a plan that is more concerned about indoctrination.

I recommend this - View Chairman Kaine's comments directly (please note his little chuckle at MOMocrats -- Tim Tim Tim, come on, please):

Comments

[Mocha]

Woops. Can't watch the video. And you know I"m all interested in this stuff, Julie! Ack!

[Julie Pippert]

OH NO! It works from my machine. let me call on the Know All techno Goddess MOMocrats and see what's what.

[Donna]

Yeah, he chuckled - but got serious when he realized YOU were serious, too. As upsetting as the Texas standards are - especially because of the influence they have on everyone else - I can't exactly throw stones. I live in the other 800-lb gorilla state for textbooks - California - and while our standards are high, few of our schools actually meet them, thanks to budgeting issues that have plagued us since the passage of Prop 13 and are now (as everyone knows) catastrophic. OK, now I'm thoroughly depressed about the future.

[Julie Pippert]

I feel your pain, Donna, especially as I ladle out more than I can really spend to keep my kids in a school that actually educates them, and well. However, wait for Part 2 of this story when i share WHERE I was with Tim Kaine and what is happening there. It's an amazingly innovative (and soon to be proven Promise Academy level successful, I suspect) educational approach at a newer school. Public schools should take note.

I think my hesitation is that the best success stories I find are the community driven, locally involved schools. I'm just not sure HOW we can improve education from a great and lofty distance, KWIM?