By State Reps. Dawnna Dukes & Donna Howard
Has it become a springtime rite in Austin? Another of East Austins neighborhoods is threatened with losing its school. Two years ago it was Webb Middle School. Last year it was Johnston High School. This year Pearce Middle School is at risk. Next year it could be Reagan High School.
At least Austin is not forced to climb the mountain that Dallas must face where 10 schools including five high schools face possible closure in the next two years.
Closing schools that have repeatedly missed even a single standard on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills became mandatory in 2006. In theory the threat of closure would galvanize districts and communities to improve schools. Instead it has become a nightmare for educators. The students affected by the policy often face significant instability in their lives without being forced to move to another school. More importantly closure does nothing to improve our schools.
All children deserve to attend the best schools. The question that remains to be answered is how to accomplish that lofty goal. Last year the answer for Johnston was closure in the face of tremendous academic gains that had moved the struggling campus within a stones throw of meeting the states standards. Eleventh-hour efforts kept the campus open but the price for Johnston was losing its school name its principal and seventy-five percent of its teachers the very staff who had finally put the school on the path to improvement.
Two years ago the school facing closure was Webb. School district and state officials thought it would be impossible to turn the school around but with strong community and parental support student achievement soared and the school remained open. Today that community effort has grown into a nationally recognized model bringing a full range of support for families and students. Former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings visited Webb calling it the kind of school every parent would want for their children.
Today we are poised to lose two more Eastside treasures: Pearce Middle School and Reagan High School. Sports stars business leaders pastors doctors lawyers and teachers have all walked those halls. Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk now U.S. trade representative for the Obama administration is a Reagan graduate.
Both schools are working hard to meet state standards. Building on the Webb model the Reagan and Pearce communities have written their own improvement plans for the schools and have mobilized hundreds of mentors tutors and volunteers. They are working closely with the district to put new programs in place to attract a wide range of students.
These communities have not given up on their kids and neither should we. These neighborhoods do not deserve to be shamed with loss of their school identity or see their children shipped across town. Reagan and Pearce deserve our support and their students deserve great schools.
In coming days the House and Senate Education Committees will revise major education bills (House Bill 3 and Senate Bill 3) which still mandate school closure. Working with the affected communities we have filed House Bill 1238 and an amendment to House Bill 3 to do two things: End school closure as a policy in our state and provide for successful community-based improvements in our schools.
Closure might seem a simple solution to the problems our schools face but it does nothing to improve schools or to help students learn. The challenges many of our schools face will take time thought and hard work but improving our schools is a challenge that we must meet not only for current students but for those who will follow in their footsteps.
All students can achieve great things given the right motivation and support. Lets work together as these communities already are doing to become a model for our state and nation. Together we can turn these schools around and give every student the opportunity to succeed. Lets replace the springtime rite of school closure with a real school improvement policy that nurtures the opportunity to succeed.
Dukes & Howard represent parts of the Austin area in the Texas House and are graduates of Pearce and Reagan High Schools.
