I am reminded from several sources that 2023 marks the 40th anniversary of the landmark report of the Department of Education, “A Nation at Risk”, the provocative conclusion of which reads: “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it […]
It’s Crunch Time in Texas for School Choice
If you live in Texas and believe that school choice by which state funding follows the student to the public or private education provider that best meets his or her needs is important, the current legislative session is the best opportunity we have had in decades to make this a reality. Senate Bill 8, the […]
Time for Serious Education Reform in Texas
The Texas Legislature has convened for its biannual 140-day run and public education, unlike anytime in recent memory, has taken center stage in public opinion. As well it should, as evidenced by recent data on student education outcomes as reported by Texas 2036: 52% of students are on grade level in reading 40% of students […]
NAEP Results Are a Disaster As Expected
Today the Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics released the math and reading results of 9-year-olds (4th graders) from the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)–the first nationally representative report comparing student achievement from before the pandemic to now, and it was as predicted–an absolute disaster, reflecting unprecedented declines on the long […]
Texas Education Assessment Thoughts
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has recently released the 2022 student assessment results on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) and they are revealing in several ways. Governor Greg Abbott was recently challenged by Politifact to validate his claim that the Texas high school graduation rate is at 90% overall, ranking the […]
Education Follow Up: A Texas-Size Disaster
Last week I took time to watch online the delivery of the Texas Education Agency’s 2021 Annual Report to the Texas State Board of Education by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, and it was predictably revealing and shocking, pretty much as most observers expected, which is probably why it has been very lightly reported by […]
It’s Time for Comprehensive School Choice in Texas
In over 30 years of involvement with public education reform, I can’t remember a time that offers more opportunity for transformational change than this moment. The combination of overall underperformance of public education, the recalcitrance of the teachers’ unions to allow teachers to return to work during the pandemic, the direct impact of COVID itself […]
Let’s Drill Down a Bit on CRT
As I have previously noted, Texas is among a growing number of states that are passing laws to keep Critical Race Theory (CRT) out of public school curricula. Others are doing so through executive rule. These are good first steps, but as some have pointed out, we need to pay closer attention to what it […]
CRT Takes a Hit in Texas
In a victory against state sanctioned racism, very late in the session just concluded both the Senate and House of the Texas Legislature adopted and sent to the Governor a bill that will prohibit the teaching of “Critical Race Theory” in Texas schools, reaffirming a commitment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition […]
“Action Civics” Showdown in Texas
As a long-time member of the National Association of Scholars (NAS.org), I recently joined the Civics Alliance that they sponsored, which has as its mission “to unite education reformers, policymakers, and every U. S. citizen who wants to preserve civics education that teaches the founding principles and documents of the United States, the key events […]
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