It has been almost a year since we announced the founding of the Texas Institute for Education Reform, and I thought you might have interest in a progress report. In December, we completed our statewide road show, which consisted of presentations and other speaking engagements to opinion and community leaders in 22 cities, along with op/ed placement, media coverage, and editorial board interviews in almost all of them. In this process, we directly reached approximately 1,300 leaders with our message of the urgency of the next phase of K-12 education reform. With the valuable assistance of our Policy Advisory Board, we have recently completed our policy development, which encompasses eight high quality policy papers covering the elements of reform outlined in our mission statement. These papers will very soon be posted on our web site and published in print on a limited basis. Currently, as the legislative session progresses, we are conducting policy briefings on a regular basis for key elected officials in Austin that emphasize the recommendations in our policy papers. I would welcome inquiries on our work from Pilgrim subscribers and friends. For more information on our mission and our people, please visit TIER at www.texaseducationreform.org.
