Change in education is hard. Texas has many people who are deeply entrenched education bureaucrats & lobbyists (a.k.a. educrats") who make their living off education dollars while pretending to be education experts" but who devote their lives to defeating true education reform involving any real change that would help Texas schoolchildren.
For decades educrats" controlled education standards and our students scores show that: 44 states scored higher in English than did Texas on the ACT (Graduating Class of 2008); 40 states scored higher in Reading.
On the SAT 42 states scored higher on the grammar usage section than did Texas; on the essay 43 states scored higher.
The Commission for a College Ready Texas reported that 50 of college freshmen in Texas are unprepared and have to enroll in remedial or developmental education classes.
My core mission on the State Board of Education (SBOE) is to strengthen public education. In the last two years SBOE conservatives won numerous battles including explicit phonics grammar usage spelling expository and persuasive writing research-writing back-to-basics math and new world-class science standards.
Now Editorial Boards are attacking those victories.
I suggest that instead of repeating the oft-quoted sound bites from the educrats perhaps the Editorial Boards might actually want to review the online recordings of the SBOE proceedings. These audio clips are posted on the Texas Education Agencys website for easy access to the public.
For example at the January 2009 meeting the SBOE debated the new standards for Science.
I noted on the public record that the SBOE was in 99 agreement with the science experts new standards document. The only point of contention was whether students should have the right to ask questions and discuss the strengths & weaknesses" of any theory including the theory of evolution.
At the March 2009 SBOE public hearing I asked several science experts if they believe we created world-class standards for each area of science including Biology Chemistry Physics and Environmental Science." They agreed.
However various experts in evolution opposed giving students the freedom to discuss and honestly question all scientific theories especially evolution.
Fifteen thousand (15000) constituent emails and 700 scientists disagreed with those experts.
As a result Texas new world-class Science standards were adopted by the SBOE on an overwhelming 13-2 vote with the clear legislative intent that Texas students should have the freedom to raise their hands in class and ask questions.
This April the Nominations Committee of the Texas Senate held a hearing to confirm Dr. Don McLeroy (R- College Station) as Chairman of the SBOE. Liberal activists and evolutionists including Kathy Miller of the left-leaning Texas Freedom Network and Dr. Wetherington of Southern Methodist University spoke in opposition to McLeroys nomination.
Even Miller had to admit that McLeroy is a really nice man… Wetherington added that McLeroy treated everyone fairly."
Attorney Jonathan Saenz testified: Don McLeroy bent over backwards to be fair." Saenz believes the opposition is based on McLeroys personal religious convictions not his leadership.
One Democrat Senator attacked McLeroy for a religious statement he made at Grace Bible Church in College Station. McLeroy replied Well thats what I teach my 4th grade Sunday school class." The Senator never questioned the overwhelming presence and impact of Texas and California atheists and secular humanists who testified frequently during the public hearings on the Science standards.
Finally Editorial Boards are now promoting a falsehood that the newly adopted standards somehow contain religious doctrine put there by the SBOE conservatives.
Put simply that is a lie.
I challenge every Editorial Board in Texas to go online and review all of the new Math Reading Grammar Writing Spelling and Science standards (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/teks/).
The press will not find any references ZERO to anyones religion.
What they will find however are world-class standards for Texas students.
Change in education is hard. Texas has many people who are deeply entrenched education bureaucrats & lobbyists (a.k.a. educrats") who make their living off education dollars while pretending to be education experts" but who devote their lives to defeating true education reform involving any real change that would help Texas schoolchildren.
For decades educrats" controlled education standards and our students scores show that: 44 states scored higher in English than did Texas on the ACT (Graduating Class of 2008); 40 states scored higher in Reading.
On the SAT 42 states scored higher on the grammar usage section than did Texas; on the essay 43 states scored higher.
The Commission for a College Ready Texas reported that 50 of college freshmen in Texas are unprepared and have to enroll in remedial or developmental education classes.
My core mission on the State Board of Education (SBOE) is to strengthen public education. In the last two years SBOE conservatives won numerous battles including explicit phonics grammar usage spelling expository and persuasive writing research-writing back-to-basics math and new world-class science standards.
Now Editorial Boards are attacking those victories.
I suggest that instead of repeating the oft-quoted sound bites from the educrats perhaps the Editorial Boards might actually want to review the online recordings of the SBOE proceedings. These audio clips are posted on the Texas Education Agencys website for easy access to the public.
For example at the January 2009 meeting the SBOE debated the new standards for Science.
I noted on the public record that the SBOE was in 99 agreement with the science experts new standards document. The only point of contention was whether students should have the right to ask questions and discuss the strengths & weaknesses" of any theory including the theory of evolution.
At the March 2009 SBOE public hearing I asked several science experts if they believe we created world-class standards for each area of science including Biology Chemistry Physics and Environmental Science." They agreed.
However various experts in evolution opposed giving students the freedom to discuss and honestly question all scientific theories especially evolution.
Fifteen thousand (15000) constituent emails and 700 scientists disagreed with those experts.
As a result Texas new world-class Science standards were adopted by the SBOE on an overwhelming 13-2 vote with the clear legislative intent that Texas students should have the freedom to raise their hands in class and ask questions.
This April the Nominations Committee of the Texas Senate held a hearing to confirm Dr. Don McLeroy (R- College Station) as Chairman of the SBOE. Liberal activists and evolutionists including Kathy Miller of the left-leaning Texas Freedom Network and Dr. Wetherington of Southern Methodist University spoke in opposition to McLeroys nomination.
Even Miller had to admit that McLeroy is a really nice man… Wetherington added that McLeroy treated everyone fairly."
Attorney Jonathan Saenz testified: Don McLeroy bent over backwards to be fair." Saenz believes the opposition is based on McLeroys personal religious convictions not his leadership.
One Democrat Senator attacked McLeroy for a religious statement he made at Grace Bible Church in College Station. McLeroy replied Well thats what I teach my 4th grade Sunday school class." The Senator never questioned the overwhelming presence and impact of Texas and California atheists and secular humanists who testified frequently during the public hearings on the Science standards.
Finally Editorial Boards are now promoting a falsehood that the newly adopted standards somehow contain religious doctrine put there by the SBOE conservatives.
Put simply that is a lie.
I challenge every Editorial Board in Texas to go online and review all of the new Math Reading Grammar Writing Spelling and Science standards (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/teks/).
The press will not find any references ZERO to anyones religion.
What they will find however are world-class standards for Texas students.
